Russian Photo Album
by XNobodyXSomebodyX
Summary: On the label beneath it, he wrote: "Home."
1. Home

**_Finally! It's done! The first chapter to my first multi-chaptered (not counting "The World, And Other Meaningless Truths") RoxSorRox story! I'm so happy... And well, speechless. No, really, this is sixteen pages on Word, and it's pretty much self-explanitory. But I hope you guys like it! The song I used for this chapter is "This Love This Hate" by Hollywood Undead._**

* * *

**_1 :: Home_**

* * *

"_In a time of need only few can see what's wrong__,  
millions tend to crawl but only those who choose can make it through this all,"_

* * *

His name is Sora Taylor, he attends Destiny Island Private School, and is the current Class President of the Junior class. He is a high honors student with great friends and a beautiful mother, Kiyoko Taylor, handsome father, Richard Taylor, and brilliant older brother, Axel Taylor.

He lives a perfectly balanced life of school, extracurricular activities, and socializing, and has been planning on attending the most prestigious University on Destiny Islands, Radiant Gardens University, since he has entered high school, and there he will study until he finds work at the local hospital on the island. Not that he would need to work, ever in his entire life, seeing as how he belongs to the most wealthiest family on all of the islands.

Yeah, isn't his life just perfect?

He doesn't even really have to interact with his own family, that must be a blessing judging by what some people say about their own! Yep, he doesn't have to wake up in the morning to a kitchen with a mom and dad and older brother chatting, or have to worry about them sitting up late at night waiting to punish him when he comes home from a party at two in the morning, or comes home after school to get a "Welcome home!" from them, or say "Bye!" when they leave for work, or even worrying about what to say at the dinner table, because it's always just him there.

It's great, really, don't you think his life is perfect?

In fact, it is so perfect that he doesn't even have to worry about finding love and getting married. Nope, his parents got him one of those handy-dandy arranged marriages when he turned four, to the daughter of the second wealthiest family on the islands, Kairi Howards. He'll never have to worry and be scared about asking a girl out! He already has a fiancé! No worries about her breaking up with him, either! It's an arranged marriage, she can't! No worries about knocking her up when they finally decide to lose their virginities! Because their parents are expecting two-point-five children anyways!

Yep, over-loaded with school work, too many fake friends, ridiculously high standards for his future, a pretentious arranged marriage to a girl with a mutual dislike of him, and parents that are never home. A perfect life, it really is.

And when his family is around, all they do is fight anyways. Ever since Axel came out of the closet, died his hair fire-truck red, got those weird upside-down triangle tattoos under his eyes, and got piercings all up his ears and one in his tongue and eyebrow, there has been no chance of a happy moment between Axel and their parents.

As for him, he likes to pretend he's adopted.

For one, their parents have seemed to put all their efforts into making sure that he carries on their family line, ever since Axel guaranteed there would be no arranged marriage with Larxene Tilmitt, who had belonged to the third largest family on the island, but the Howards had become more rich between the time Axel and Sora were born.

Axel's nineteen, Sora's seventeen.

The day Axel guaranteed there would be no marriage with Larxene that involved him, was the day he came out of the closet, and made it very well known what exactly his sexuality was. That particular day is still not brought up in the tri-state area.

I bet you're now wondering why Axel doesn't just move out, if he's so unhappy with their parents. Well, Axel is in college, doesn't have a job, doesn't have his own money, and our parents are still, at the moment, using the threat of disowning him and cutting off all financial support to keep him in some control.

And besides, as stated before, they aren't usually home to begin with. Axel and Sora see them once a month, at least, twice if there is something they think they need to talk to them about has come up, thrice if it's an emergency.

Thrice is never good, for more than just the emergency part.

Luckily, thrice is as rare as a rabbit carrying a watch and leading Sora down a hole to a wonderland with pot-smoking caterpillars.

So, in conclusion, I think it is safe to say his life is just freaking perfect. He will grow up, probably be forced away from Axel at some point, marry Kairi (who he despises more with each passing day) and have two-point-five children. All of which will be named by their parents, naturally, as their parents had named their children.

Their lives at that point will be planned out to the best of their parent's abilities, right down to how they eat their eggs. Dueling lessons after piano lessons, all before some classes that will teach them how to debate politics with some half-ancient men at some borings social occasions that hold no real meaning to anyone except the hosts (rarely).

Life is perfect, it's beautiful, and Sora thinks this everyday when he wakes up and remembers where he'll be when he is his parent's age.

At the age where he will finally have enough power to control his own life, but by then will be too bitter towards the world to act on it. Just bitter enough to cause misery on the next generation, who will end up the same way and cause misery for the generation after them, and it will be a never ending cycle. Never to be broken.

Just replayed again, and again, and again…

Just waiting for someone to break the damn record already.

* * *

"_These lies are leading me astray it's too much for me to stay,  
I don't wanna live this destiny it goes on endlessly,"_

* * *

Sora gulped down the yawn that threatened to rip itself from his throat, knowing better than to do such a thing when around his parent's business associates, it would be a bad impression, and they only wanted the best impressions of the family.

Hence the reason Axel was locked in his room for the evening.

True to their once a month visit, it was no surprise it was only for a relaxing dinner at home with some business partner to discuss some rather pressing issues in peace. Normally, Sora wouldn't mind such a meeting in the least bit, he had gone through enough of them to easily zone out a couple minutes in, and then magically "wake-up" at whatever time the meeting was adjourned.

This time, though, he was tired. He was exhausted. He was about ready to put his head in the mashed potatoes on his plate, because they looked fluffy enough to be a pillow and he really thought he would probably fall asleep before he realized they were, most definitely, not pillows. But he didn't let this show, hopefully, because then his parents would get angry and Sora would just have to stay up even longer to listen to their scolding.

Obviously, because of his "undesirable affect on the family image," Axel had been confined to his room for the night. One bodyguard and one maid outside his door, just in case he needed anything. The bodyguard wasn't to keep him in, Sora had almost been kidnapped and held for ransom when he was younger, so it was for Axel's own protection.

That bugged him, though, as it had been years since then. Sora had been seven at the time! Now he was a black belt in karate, and knew how to duel with swords, and how to shoot, aim, and pretty much take out any target within 100-feet of him with a gun. Oh, and had learned some minor tricks with knives from the half-insane chef his parents hired, then fired, a couple years back…

He missed Cid…

A rather loud laugh snapped Sora out of his thoughts, causing him to flinch and turn his attention back to the guest of the evening, Rufus Shinra. A business man of some sort, he didn't know of what though, hadn't been paying attention. International trade of some kind of special knew source of energy… Maka? Mako? Whatever, it was one am, he needed some serious sleep.

Last night wasn't spent at a party, which is usually what would cause him to be this sleepy, instead it had been spent with Axel tutoring him for hours on end for a test that he had taken earlier today. Math had never been his thing… Then again, neither had been history or any science that involved any dangerous tools or chemicals.

Sora had always been quite good at English, though, he had always enjoyed reading, getting lost in a whole other world. And unlike most teens his age, he not only understood Shakespeare, but also enjoyed reading his work. Sora had always wanted to try his hand at writing a novel for himself, to indulge in the emotions and thoughts and personality of another, but…

He didn't have the time for that. He never had the time for that. Good grades had never came to him naturally, when he's not out at a party or socializing at some event, then he's studying. It's horribly mundane, and it controls his life to the point where he'd have dreams about what he studied!

Another laugh jolted him from his thoughts, this time it was to see Rufus Shinra nodding his head and thanking his parents, they probably just made a deal. What a lucky man, to have the money of the Taylor family backing him up, right?

Sora sighed, lightly, through his nose, hoping this meant the dinner would be coming to a close soon when his father suddenly turned his attention to the brunette, "You wouldn't mind, right, Sora?"

Really, there was no need to feel panicked in this situation, even if Sora had been paying attention, he still wouldn't have been able to give my honest opinion. He would have to answer with the reply his parents wanted from him anyways, so there was no real need to pay any attention.

He smiled politely and nodded, "I wouldn't mind in the least bit, I'd be happy."

Sora wondered what he was agreeing to, though. It's not everyday that one of their business associates involved him in whatever they are talking about. He really hoped he didn't just agree to stay at his summer home with him or something, Sora really didn't want to be raped by some random creeper his parents were just saying anything to make a deal to.

"My nephew will be overjoyed when I tell him the news, like I said, I would've taken him in myself, but with all the traveling, I figured he would just appreciate a more solid home for now." Rufus spoke with a deep voice, one that vaguely reminded Sora of a cat telling a mouse that it would be a smart investment to hide from danger in his mouth.

He didn't think he liked where this was going. Crap, he should've paid attention after all, why the hell would this involve him though? Okay, Sora, just calm down and think. He said something about a solid home for his nephew, and Father asked him if he would mind something. Well, if this was brought up at all during this stupid dinner, then it must involve his family somehow. It must involve him and something of his if Father asked him if he'd be alright with it… A steady home… Wait, they couldn't be thinking about inviting someone into their home! Someone they don't even know! Someone that Axel and Sora have to live with, not them!

Fighting the urge to groan out loud, he knew that was most likely right. The next thing they said would most likely confirm it.

"Your nephew, Roxas Casey?" A nod from the blonde guest confirmed this, "I'm sure he'll love to stay here with our son for the time being. We don't mind in the least bit either, it's important for growing children to have a stable home." Father nodded as Mother sipped from her cup of tea idly.

Wait, how old was this guy? And exactly how long was he staying here?! Damn it, Sora, you should seriously learn to pay attention! Stupid, stupid, stupid…

"Why don't we move into the parlor to talk more about your company, Sora can go tell the maids to prepare a room for Roxas," Father took a glance at the brunette, seemed to make a quick conclusion, then smiled politely once again at Rufus, "You said your nephew was almost 17 now, right? Coming from Hollow Bastion, we'll be sure to give him one of the better guest rooms, a nice change from that unpleasant city, it will be."

Rufus chuckled, completely oblivious to how Sora's father just totally saved the teen's ass on that one. He swore, they may be controlling tyrants, but that just makes him appreciate the moments of kindness all the more…

Well, that sounded utterly depressing…

As they left the dining room, Sora headed up the stairs, his parents and their guest heading towards the parlor where there was surely tea and treats ready for them and their business talk. Finally out of sight, he let a yawn out, letting it shake his entire body from it's intensity. The teen sighed as he looked for a maid or butler, anyone of them, he wanted to tell them to make the room and then go see Axel. Sora thought, tonight, he'd probably end up falling asleep in his room, he just didn't feel like sleeping in his own, alone.

Spotting Aerith, he smiled warmly at her, having always liked her calm and gentle demeanor, it was so pleasant that it just made you relax when you saw her, "Aerith," She turned, slightly surprised to see him, her green eyes slightly wide before they wrinkled at the corners with a smile spreading across her face.

"Young Master, what can I do for you?"

Sora yawned again, not at all ashamed it was in front of a servant this time, he was much more relaxed around them than his parents and their guests, "Rufus Shinra's nephew, Roxas something-or-another, will be staying with us for a length of time that I had not been paying any attention to whatsoever. He's about my age and from Hollow Bastion, I get the feeling from Father that he's not rich, either, so I think it's safe to say you guy's don't need to kill yourselves going all out and making the room dazzling, but still use one of the better ones, alright?" He yawned again, his upper body shaking slightly with the force.

He was gonna fall asleep standing, Sora honestly believe that…

Aerith smiled at the teen again, seeming to be amused with him, "Yes, sir, will you be heading to your or Master Axel's room?"

He paused for a second, his mind spinning slightly, before he responded again, "Mm, Axel's. I'll probably fall asleep in there."

She giggled lightly, nodding, "I'll notify Yuffie and tell her to not bother waking you up in your room tomorrow."

"Thank you, Aerith, I appreciate it. With all this work you're doing for me, I'll make it up to you sometime, I promise." She just laughed at his tired smile, then nodded for him to go to bed.

"You don't have to do anything, I'm happy serving you. Good night, Young Master Sora."

She's a saint, Sora would swear it, Aerith is always doing more than what he asked her to, always looking for ways to make his and Axel's lives easier. They're spoiled, by their wealth and by how easy she makes their lives, and he felt _so bad_ because he felt like he hasn't truly thanked her enough for that. But he had no idea how to make it up to her. Extra money on her paycheck doesn't really make her any happier, she's already told him this, and coming from her, it was believable.

Besides money, he's not sure how else to repay her except doing favors for her and getting her extra days off. But he didn't give her that many extra days off, he didn't want her to get into trouble with the other servants. They were her friends here, after all, and he wanted to thank her, not make her friends ostracize her or anything.

Finally reaching Axel's room, the bodyguard nodded to Sora while the maid curtsied, he nodded back and the guard unlocked the door, letting him inside before locking it behind him again.

Axel's room was as dark as it was outside, meaning he either snuck out or actually decided to stay and sleep in his own bed, which was rare, he preferred sleeping over his friend's houses.

Slowly finding my way to the bed without his sight, he tried to be careful but inevitably hit a couple things. Sora winced as his knee came into harsh contact with the coffee table, making a sharp pain shoot up his entire leg. Biting his lip to distract himself, he took a couple more steps and sighed in relief when his hands met the soft and fluffy material of Axel's bed.

His thoughts returned to whether or not Axel actually decided to stay the night or not, knowing he probably left, and he realized his coming to the redhead's room, knowing full well the chance he would still be here was minimal, was pointless in it's own way. But Sora had already told Aerith, and she was going to tell Yuffie not to go to his room to wake him up, so he had no other choice by this point.

Gulping down another breath, he climbed onto the bed and fell onto his side, curling into the soft sheets and burying his face in the pillow. He could tell now, laying there. Physically, the closest people to him were the bodyguard and the maid outside the door.

Sora just didn't want to be alone.

* * *

"_O__nly few can sing like lions 'cause we sing until we're gone,  
and we've got each others backs until we're back where we belong,"_

* * *

The blonde glared at the cloud that hid the sun from view, willing it to go away and reveal the bright sunshine to the city, to allow it to heat the streets and chase the other people inside and off the hot asphalt. But, unfortunately, it was one of those cloudy, perfect temperature days. The ones you always think are great until you get outside and see all the other people who decided to spend a great day outside, too.

Then it just sucked.

He grunted, shoving aside another person as he tried to get around the crowds, skateboard held against his side tightly under his arm, the mass of people had made it practically impossible to actually use the board, it was easier to carry it. That was just sad. Whose bright idea was it to squish this many freaking people in one place anyways?

The guy was probably dead already anyways, but if Roxas found his grandson or something, ooh, that guy better watch out.

An elbow connected with the blonde's side, causing him to wince and spin around, kicking a guy, the one he assumed was who the elbow belonged to, in the shin before quickly pushing people even quicker as he made to get through the crowd faster than the man could get to him.

Bodies pressed together as tightly as they would in mosh pits at a concert, only with less violence, except on Roxas's end, he was pretty sure he just shoved some 12 year old girl into a box of potatoes. He found himself regretting ever coming out of his home during good weather, especially on a Sunday, that was the day everyone in the city went to the Market Place, right after church. Another bad idea, probably suggested by the same guy who decided to make the city itself, and it's giant population.

Roxas could see the scene, see the stupid man with a hillbilly-like accent jumping up from a table and yelling out things about making a place where people can all be over-crowded together, then suggesting they can all go shopping on the same day, too. Idiots.

He finally reached a wall, what wall he was not sure, but he was at a wall, which meant he was slightly safer because now he would actually be able to go in one direction without being jostled and pushed in every other direction. It was especially hard for the vertically challenged, like him. People just thought they could walk right over him.

He shoved past a man with a Mexican-looking mustache, glancing at the stores he was walking by, looking for his temporary home. Finally he was there, the bakery Lulu owned, causing him to smile slightly and squeeze through the door. Once inside, the sent of freshly cooked bread nearly caused him to melt. Glancing around quickly, he was happy to see it wasn't over-crowded, although a bit more full than usual.

He quickly jumped into line behind a woman who looked to be in her late-middle-ages, tapping his foot impatiently as she reached all around her pudgy body for her purse just to start the usual questioning of which credit cards they take.

They don't take any.

"Sorry, ma'am, just cash." Roxas smirked at the sound of Wakka's voice, the guy obviously hadn't seen him behind the pudgy woman if he hadn't greeted him yet. Wakka would get distracted by things so easily, he once dropped an entire tray of half-baked croissants when he saw Roxas, just so he could give the small blonde a bear-hug. It was a miracle Lulu put up with him…

The lady made a couple more mutterings, something about her son and husband, medical bills these days, teenagers, and piercings, none of which did she word in any way that didn't sound condescending, before she finally pulled out her wallet. Her big, fat, wallet with a knitted puppy-dog on the front.

Damn rich people complained too much, just took everything for granted.

Just look at this lady. She dressed like she was straight from a boutique in Paris, had enough credit cards to give Roxas one and set him for life, and she obviously ate more than well with her size. And yet, here she was whining and moaning about kids, husbands, medical bills, teenagers and fashion styles that are most definitely not healthy but completely cool. It was ridiculous. She should be on her knees and thanking that God that she most likely believed in that she was lucky enough to have the money she did, she should be happy that she didn't have to worry about her home or paying those damn bills.

Instead, she wasted her time with mutterings and over-stuffed, knitted puppy-dog wallets.

Roxas was almost on the verge of beating his skull in with his own skateboard when she finally finished paying for her damn pastries, waddling out of the way to let the blonde come into view of Wakka. The tanned man smiled widely, reaching right over the counter and pulling the teen against it as he hugged him, making Roxas slightly envious of his height, "Hey! Roxas! Welcome back, buddy! You stayin' outta trouble, right? Lu's in the back if you wanna see her, I'm-a lil' busy up 'ere."

He just nodded, walking around the counter to let himself into the kitchen, smiling softly when he saw little Vidina, Lulu and Wakka's son, named the Al Bhed word for "future," playing with flour on one of the tables. He was covered, from head to toe, and Roxas was positive Lu was gonna have one hell of a time trying to clean the child later.

The toddler looked up, smiling brightly as his eyes settled on the blonde, "Rockus!" He threw out his arms to the teen, flour flying away from him in a giant white cloud. He hadn't noticed it though, waving his arms around towards the blonde, obviously asking to either be held or hugged, most likely hugged, it seemed Wakka's intense need for bear-hugs is genetic.

Roxas chuckled lightly and stepped over, dropping his board to the floor and kicking it under the table beside the door so no one would hurt themselves on it… Again. He grabbed a wet cloth from the counter and let the toddler wrap his arms around the his chest, only reaching to just underneath the older one's shoulder blades, Roxas didn't mind getting Vidina's flour-covered arm and body prints over his black tank top, the kid was too cute to turn down, even if he had been wearing an expensive, rented dress-suit.

The blonde smiled warmly as he gently began wiping away the flour from the child's face and head, before moving onto his hands and arms, "Who let you into the flour? You're a mess, where'd your mommy go?"

Vidina's eyes lit up dramatically, smile widening as he turned and pointed to a back closet, "Mommy!"

The blonde nodded and picked the small one up, carrying him to the closet with him, as he didn't want the toddler to start digging through the flour once again. Stepping around in the doorway and looking around the corner, he saw Lulu there, searching through several boxes and bottles, a gentle frown on her face.

Roxas cleared his throat, suddenly bringing her red irises onto him, she smiled warmly at the two of them, stepping over and taking Vidina into her arms despite the flour. Roxas laughed as the boy reached up and began to swat at one of her braids. One thing that never ceased to amaze Roxas was how Lulu managed to keep herself so together, to still look young, and put on all the make-up, and continue to dress as before, even after she married Wakka and had Vidina. It was amazing, how calm and collected this woman could be.

She smiled down at Roxas, "Roxas, could I ask you to look for the cinnamon while I clean this one up? Wakka did inventory yesterday, and now I can't seem to find where he placed it."

Roxas chuckled lightly and nodded, walking up to the shelves as she left, ascending the stairs to the apartment above, where the happy family had allowed Roxas to stay for the past month.

The blonde considered himself lucky, really, that they took him in. They had been offering for years, but it wasn't until Roxas's landlord began to threaten to evict him because of three over-due rents that the blonde finally had to take them up on the offer. He didn't understand why his parents suddenly stopped paying rent, though, they were never there, they had left Roxas to his own devices since he was about ten, but they had never failed to send plenty of money to pay rent and buy groceries, and clothes, and other things.

But, about seven months ago, the money just stopped coming. Roxas had begun working at Lulu's bakery to get money to try and pay rent and food, but it just wasn't enough. So he had to get another job, as a poster-boy. At night, basically, he went around with someone else, ripped down posters and put up new ones. Why at night? Who knows? Who cares? Roxas doesn't care how shady it seems, as long as he gets his pay check.

That was just barely enough, he was able to pay for an entire month's rent, but he still had another over-due rent waiting. That, plus he didn't have much money to spend on food, so Wakka and Lulu began to try and feed him, instead. Which he refused, because it wasn't their job to take care of him.

He just didn't understand where his parents went. Well, he knew they were traveling the world, they were rich, and Roxas had refused to go with them because his life was in Hollow Bastion, but they had always supported their son, even though they basically abandoned him.

Roxas didn't have time to care, really, though. He had gotten laid off from his poster-boy job because they found out he wasn't really eighteen. So he was sent off searching for another job, and didn't find one until half way through the month, at the very least, it was at a coffee shop. But he had found it too late and didn't have enough money to pay for rent, once again.

He kept the jobs for awhile, though, learned how to work the weird hours, basically had to drop out of school, paid his rent, ate at least small meals twice a day. He was doing it, he was surviving without his parents.

Then he got a new boss at the coffee shop whom he didn't have a particular fondness of, told the guy exactly what he thought about him, got fired, and missed another month's rent, was evicted, and Wakka and Lulu welcomed him with open arms. So while he felt extremely guilty for basically mooching off of them, he knew he was extremely lucky. He could've ended up homeless.

Finally finding the cinnamon in the very back of the bottom shelf-what had Wakka been thinking?-he snatched it up and walked back into the kitchen, just in time to see Lulu bring Vidina back down the stairs, flour-less and with new clothes. But Lulu didn't look as happy as Vidina did about this, with the home phone pressed against her ear, she frowned deeply, worriedly, then nodded to Roxas. The blonde placed the cinnamon down on the island, next to the mess of flour the child had made earlier, and walked up to her, curiosity written across his features.

"Yes, he's right here, hold a second, please?" She held the phone out to Roxas, still frowning as the blonde raised it to his own ear.

Cautiously, watching as Lulu grabbed the cinnamon and went to a mixing bowl, still holding Vidina in her arms, he asked slowly, "Hello?"

"_Ah, is this Roxas Casey? It's nice to finally talk to you, Roxas. I heard recently from my sister that she and her husband haven't been able to wire any money to you in the past couple months. Apparently they're traveling through some rather poverty stricken African villages at the moment. Anyways, they figured you would be able to take care of yourself, but they wanted me to send money to you anyways. Well, I couldn't hear of it! A child living all alone, just receiving money from their parents! Anyways, I have made arrangements for you to live with some good friends of mine. They will pay for your expenses and such until you either turn eighteen, or my sister finds it in her soul to come back home. I never agreed with her tactics much."_

Roxas spluttered for a second, mind spinning slightly as he tried to make sense out of what the man was talking about, just watching Lulu continue to add ingredients to the bowl, a recipe he didn't know quite yet, "Uh, whoa, huh? What? Who is this?"

"_Oh! Haha! Pardon me, it's your uncle, Rufus Shinra. My friends, the Taylors, they live on Destiny Islands, so you'll have to take a plane there. I do hope that is not a problem. If it is, I can easily arrange a train ride and then a ferry instead, although it would take longer, and I would imagine it being less comfortable."_

"I-uh-wait, what? I have an uncle?" Roxas's head was spinning again, raising his hand to run through his hair in the nausea that was suddenly starting to hit him, eyes flickering to the door as Wakka came in with a flourish, a wide smile dimming as his eyes quickly registered the tension on his wife's and Roxas's faces, "They're in Africa, but-uh, I have a place to live, I'm living with friends, good friends. I don't need money, I'm fine, you-"

"_Nonsense! It's not their responsibility to take care of my nephew! I would've taken you in myself, but I imagined that you would rather stay in one place, instead of jumping all around the world because of my business, that is why I asked the Taylors. You will like it there, Roxas, I know you will."_

"What? _What-_What? Hold on, back up! I'm living with my own friends, I don't need you taking care of me! I don't know who you are! I don't know those people! I-"

"_So I will have a private jet sent to the closest airport to you, how does Friday sound, it give you a full day of packing! I'll alert the Taylors, their sons, Axel and Sora, can pick you up at the local airport. The trip should be about five to six hours, but you don't have to worry about anything. It is a luxury air-craft, really."_

"Hey, listen to me! I'm trying to talk! No, stop it! Listen!"

"_I will have your parents contact you as soon as possible, though I don't know how soon that will be, exactly, as they are in Africa. Why Africa of all places? And why the poverty stricken areas? I will never know what is going through that woman's head! The jet should arrive around ten, so you will probably want to get there at nine, at least. Just to get through security, I heard it is ridiculous in Hollow Bastion."_

"You-No-Stop-STOP! Hey! I-I said! Don't make me talk over you! Hey! I'm talking here! What, are you a recording or something! Hey! Don't ignore me! I'll sing! You don't want to hear me sing! I'll sing REALLY loudly, and you'll have to hear me! HEY! SHUT UP! ME NO COMPRENDO! SOMETHING!"

Wakka snorted, making me scowl at him, "Try singing, I wanna hear it, ya?"

Roxas evened him with a scathing gaze, before sucking in a large breath of air, his supposed uncle still blathering over the phone, then, "_LONELY! I AM SO LONELY! I HAVE NO-BODY! TO CALL MY OWN! OOOOOH!"_

"_ROXAS! What __are__ you doing?"_

"No," Roxas sighed, running another hand through his hair, "What are _you_ doing? I've never heard of you in my life! And you just randomly decide to call because you **just** found out that my parents are in Africa and have left me alone for seven years?"

"_SEVEN YEARS?! THEY SAID SEVEN MONTHS!" _Roxas sucked in another breath at the outburst, pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation, _"Roxas! I will have my bodyguards come down __tomorrow__! They will pick you up and bring you to the airport, and there you can take the plane! Prepare, pack your belongings! This is outrageous! I must call my sister! I will visit you at the Taylors as soon as possible, good bye, Roxas, and good luck!"_

"No! Stop! You're not listening again! I will sing! It's a threat! Hey, don't you dare hang up!"

Wakka and Lulu watched him as he slowly dropped the phone away from his ear, letting out a sigh of anger. All was quiet, even Vidina, the moment's tension giving away to something much more depressing, much too depressing for Roxas's conscious to bare for thrusting it upon this happy family.

Then Wakka broke the silence with another dumb statement, "He hung up, didn' 'e?"

Roxas just looked at him for a long moment, "Ya…"

* * *

"_Maybe one day we can choose how it feels to be a woman or a man  
without rules but buried underneath there's a picture glued."_

* * *

Roxas had two bags. One with clothes, the other with his art supplies. Looking between the two, he cocked his head to the side when he realized something a bit unnatural, the bag with clothes was a lot more empty than the one with the art supplies, and they were the same type of bags.

Well, at least he knew where all the money he used to get from his parents was mostly going to. He had never been much of a clothes shopper anyways. Blinking for a moment, he looked around the small room for anything else. Spotting his skateboard, he quickly shoved it into the clothes bag, realizing that he wouldn't be riding it to the airport. Heck, the only reason why he was even bothering was because Lulu reasoned, it wasn't his choice. Body guards were coming to take him away. And while they certainly loved him, they weren't about to hide him like he was illegal. They reasoned he could certainly sort this out with this uncle and return to Hollow Bastion after he saw him in Destiny Islands.

Roxas still found his "uncle" to be someone he'd rather not meet, though.

Another glance around, and he spotted the album he kept under his bed. Pictures inside of his mother's travels around the world, and then of her meeting his father in England, Ipswich to be exact, and then of their marriage in Mexico City, and then of Roxas's birth in Bangkok, Thailand. Then it moved onto a picture of a house in Hollow Bastion, many of Roxas between the ages of one to ten, he being one when they finally decided to live in Hollow Bastion. But after ten, it was just pictures of his mother and father in the different places they were traveling. As they had been sending him pictures weekly, and he would loyally place them in the album.

The thing was huge. Old leather that had to be in possession of three-inch binding. He believed his mother had said she bought it in a pawn shop somewhere in Russia, which was pretty easy to figure out, as it was definitely pawn shop worthy, and the cover read, "**забытый память**," which Roxas had looked up and realized meant something along the lines of "forgotten memories."

That was most definitely coming. And luckily, it fit in the bag, leaving only about five inches of space left. Another glance around the room, though, proved the space would not be filled with anything. He planned on coming back, he definitely did, he was just bringing the important stuff because…

It's important, duh, that's why. Just because he was bringing the album didn't mean he wasn't planning on coming back. He just couldn't bare to be that far away from it, it held really high sentimental value. Oh, great, now he sounds like a girl.

"Rockus," The blonde's gaze darted to the doorway, where Vidina stood, arms tightly wrapped around the doll Lulu had given him when he was a baby. Kid was attached to the thing, it was helplessly adorable.

Roxas shifted onto his knees, sitting on his heals to hold his arms out for a hug. The toddler came running, making Roxas think, once again, the bear-hug need must be genetic, "What's up, kid? Shouldn't you be going to bed by now?"

Vidina shook his head back and forth fervently, fixing Roxas with a hard gaze, slightly disturbing for a kid that young, "No! Rockus is goin' away!"

Roxas's eyes widened, oh, god, if he was the cause of some separation anxiety for this kid when he was older, he would probably be hanged by his conscious, just freaking great. The blonde smiled, pointing to the bags, "No, it's just for a little while, okay? I'll be back before you know it. I promise."

He frowned, eyes becoming slightly glassy, making Roxas's conscious start to pound on his head immediately. Then Vidina did something Roxas was sure he was gonna regret, shoving the precious doll into the five inch space left in Roxas's clothing bag. Could Vidina really survive that long without it? Great, not only is he gonna be the cause of separation anxiety, but he's probably gonna blame himself for stealing the kid's security-blanket/item, too. Wonderful.

"You can take Moogle, but that means you havta come home now!" Vidina pointed at him sternly, bottom lip pouting out as he attempted to look serious. Roxas attempted to not laugh and just pulled the kid into another hug, smile bright across his face.

"Alright, Vida, I promise, okay? I'm definitely coming back, my home is here!"

"Aww," Roxas let the kid go to look up at the doorway again, seeing Wakka and Lulu, both smiling at him, although one with more a gentle warmth while the other seemed to threaten his ribs with a bear-hug. Wakka looked a little teary, suddenly running over to the two other boys, "Aw, man, come 'ere you! We're gonna miss ya like heck, we are!"

Roxas laughed breathlessly as Wakka, as predicted, was squeezing his ribcage to the point where it felt like it was going to break, "You and Vida are just alike, you know that?"

"You havta come back!" Wakka was nearly sobbing, making Roxas laugh more as Lulu moved to sit on his bed with Vida in her lap, still smiling.

"You're getting up early tomorrow, right? We invited all your friends to say goodbye before you leave." Roxas gasped in breaths as he looked at her in surprise.

"Really? But," He frowned, looking to his bags, "It's not gonna be that long. Like a small vacation, more like it…"

Lulu shook her head as Wakka came to sit beside her, "We can't be sure of that, Roxas. So everyone is going to say goodbye, and hope that you can talk to your uncle as soon as possible."

Roxas shook his head, "No, I'll pay for myself to come back here, I mean, I'll hitch-hike if I havta."

"Hey now," Wakka laughed, "Don't be doin' dangerous and stupid stuff. That's saved for college. You just go there, be smart, go to school, make friends, and call us every night to tell us if you see any cute boys!"

Roxas scowled, a pink he dusting over his face, "Hardy-flipping-ha, Wak, you were the one who was just all teary-eyed and hugging me."

Wakka laughed again, making Roxas's smile come back to his face. Looking between the three people on his bed, he blinked for a second before jumping up and running out the door, "Hey! Wait there for a second, I'll be right back!"

In what seemed like only moments, he was back with a digital camera in his hands, smile still spread across his face as he came back in to see Lulu had moved to lean against Wakka's shoulder, Vida drifting off to sleep in her lap still. Holding up, they smiled again, a warmth in those smiles that Roxas was positive would last forever in the picture.

Later that night, after a visit to a 24-hour convenience store down the street, he placed that picture on the next blank page in the album. On the label beneath it, he wrote: _Home._

* * *

"_This love this hate is burning me away."_


	2. Hell

**_And chapter two is DONE! Can you believe this is a full seventeen pages long in Word? I know! Go ahead and say, "Oh, damn!" Because I typed six pages last night, after I finished the first chapter, and then typed the other eleven today! But don't expect these super long chapters every freaking day, okay? I'm amazed I typed this all in the past twenty-four hours, and it's not even a one-shot, either. No, these first two chapters are done so fast because I know where I'm going with this story, I've had these two chapters planned out. Now chapter three isn't exactly finished being planned out yet, and I have school tomorrow, so while I will have plenty of time to plan it out in my head… I probably won't be able to type it all out. Or, I'll probably get some of it typed out, but I won't finish it tomorrow. I think most of you can expect it by Wednesday night, the latest._**

**_I'd really like to know what you guys think about it! Even if it's just a, "I think it's good," or a direct quote of a moment you thought was funny, or if you're telling me I'm doing a crappy job at something, I really just like to know people are reading and enjoying my story! That's why I bother posting, or else I wouldn't waste my time typing it all out on the computer and spell checking it and blah, blah, blah._**

**_That being said, I'd like to thank "hibaXtsu" for her review… _**

**_And the song used in this chapter is "Say Anything" by Mariana's Trench._**

_**

* * *

**_

_**2 :: Hell**_

* * *

"_Hurts the same when nobody knows,_

_Guess that's just how it goes,"_

* * *

Sora's eyes slowly blinked open, bright sunlight spilling through the curtains next to the bed, a soft breeze blew past, causing the material to billow out and let the wind gently caress the innards of the room. The sapphire eyes fell shut again as the calming effect swept over him, making him sigh peacefully.

Guess he's not going to school. After all, pretending to be sick and stay home would look better than the class president being tardy to school. He had an image to up hold, an image for his family, an image for his fiancé, an image for himself. And while that image wasn't exactly something he wanted to keep for himself, or hold up for Kairi, for his parents, he supposed he could do it, they were relying on him.

Sighing gently, the teen rolled over, curling up further into the bed, his eyes ran over the contents of the room, recognizing the coffee table first, littered with Axel's magazines, coke cans, and empty cigarette packs. He didn't let the maids in, so the redhead mostly just wallowed in his own filth. But his room was like an apartment, really. Everyone's was. You could survive by yourself up in one of their rooms for quite awhile, as long as you had food for the mini-fridge, but you even had a small kitchenette and a gloriously decorated bathroom.

Sora was sure that Rufus Shinra's nephew would like staying here, if he was really some poor kid. He'd feel like he was being given a home all to himself. Sora just hoped he would get along with the guy, he didn't need anymore obstacles in his life.

Yawning, the brunette finally sat up, looking around the room one more time, wondering if Axel had come back last night at any point. Probably not, he would've had to climb back in through the window, and with the bed right under said window, Sora would've been awakened.

His parents would've most definitely have left by now, he doubted that they had even slept in their home that night. It was most likely they didn't, they were busy, they probably hopped on a plane and decided to take a quick nap on it, or something. Or maybe they just poured some coffee down their throats and shrugged sleep off.

Sora hated coffee, he thought it tasted nasty.

The sapphire eyes gazed emptily around the warm room, face set into cold apathy. He sniffed, feeling the same uneasy feeling settle in his stomach and heart. The feeling he got whenever he would remember who was the only person in his family home. The only one who would sit at the table and be served breakfast. The only one who would even glance at the morning paper. The only one who would walk through the empty hallways that he lived in.

The silence of the mansion was deafening in it's own way. Sending a ringing through his ears, a void in his gaze, a hole in his chest. The bed beneath him felt much too soft, too comfortable, too false. There wasn't anything so pleasant in this house, no one should wish to live here, in a place whose servants out-numbered it residents. Whose coldness existed only because of the extreme lack of familial warmth.

The knock on the door made Sora flinch violently, sending his heart thundering in his ears and his blood suddenly rushing through his veins twice as fast. He gulped, willing his heart to stop beating so fast from just being scared out of his thoughts, he shook his head and sighed as he heard the knock once more, "Enter."

Leon slowly opened the door, a soft expression on his face, smiling coolly as he saw Sora sitting in Axel's bed, suit from last night still on, the teen smiled brightly and jumped out of the bed, walking up to the butler, "Good morning, Leon, what do you need?"

The man nodded in response, "You have a call from Mister Rufus Shinra, Young Master." He spoke softly, quietly for the still tired brunette.

Yawning again, the teen nodded his thanks and stepped out into the hall way, looking up and down for the nearest phone, spotting it not a couple feet away. He quickly walked up to it and picked up the receiver, squeezing his eyes shut and blinking hard to wake himself up more, "Hello, Mister Shinra? This is Sora Taylor, my parents are out at the moment."

"_Ah, yes, Sora, good morning. Your parents told me about their business trip this morning. I had been planning on sending Roxas to you Friday afternoon, but it seems the situation had been worse than I had imagined. He had been living with friends of his, I don't know for how long, maybe for as long as seven years! I had to send him as soon as possible, and send some sort of compensation to those friends of his for taking care of him for so long. Good people, they must be. So I'm afraid that Roxas will be coming a little earlier than I had previously planned, I am sorry for the inconvenience."_

Sora shook his head, then remembered he was on the phone and quickly replied, "No, no, it's alright, I don't mind. Do you know about which time he will be arriving?"

Glancing down, he realized he only had his black dress socks on, which meant he must've kicked his dress shoes off sometime during the night, into the mess known as Axel's room. They'd probably never be found, but that's alright, he supposed, he had a couple other pairs. He can always buy more.

"_Well, I had sent my jet out with two of my most trusted body guards to fetch him, Hollow Bastion is such a dangerous city. I suppose around noon, maybe. Would it be alright if I left my two body guards in your care also? They will not need much, I just would like to keep them near Roxas, to learn a bit more about the boy."_

"No worry, Mister Shinra, I will have a room for each of them set near Roxas's." He said this while looking at Leon, holding up two fingers, the man nodded quickly and began to walk down the hall, most likely in search of either Aerith, Cloud or Yuffie.

"_Ah, thank you very much Sora! I will visit for Roxas soon enough, maybe at the end of this month."_

"Of course, sir, I will make sure he's comfortable here."

"_It's good to here that from you, Sora! I'm putting my trust in you! I will talk to you again, good bye."_

"Good bye Mister Shinra." Placing the phone back on the cradle, Sora backed up into the wall and slide down to the floor, rubbing his eyes once again. Another heavy sigh coming from him as the silence of the house settled over him again. Grunting in slight effort, he threw himself back on his feet, placed a hand on his jaw to hear a painful crack then cleared his throat.

A moment later, he was running down the halls towards his room, mind running through everything that needed to be done. Dashing into his room, nearly taking himself out on the door when it didn't swing open fast enough, he ran to the bathroom to clean himself off the tiredness from the day and night before.

Glancing up at the clock, it read ten-thirty. He had to get showered, change into clean clothes, make sure Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud and Leon finished setting up the rooms, scour the island for a cook, since they never got around to it before but would definitely need one with a long-term guest coming. After which, he would have to call his parents, tell them Roxas was coming earlier than planned, then call Axel and tell him Roxas was coming in general, then call the school and enroll Roxas as a student and…

And he's wasting time by thinking about what he has to do instead of taking his damn shower.

* * *

"_I don't expect, but try me,_

_And you will always find me here,"_

* * *

Roxas groaned as he dragged the bag with his clothes out of the room. Who would've thought a bunch of cloth, a three-inch thick photo album, and Moogle would weigh so much…

Then again, it could just be the fact that it's so early in the morning, and that Roxas has no real upper-body strength, sadly enough. Don't say that to him, though, he vehemently denies it. But really, he hurts himself more when he tries to punch something.

Yawning again, he looked down the set of stairs leading to the kitchen. At the moment, he knew Lulu was waking Vidina up, so they wouldn't be at the bottom. Wakka might be, though, he went down to unlock the door to the shop and let some of his friends in a couple moments ago. So by just letting gravity take the bag down the stairs, he may accidentally hit Wakka or one of his friends.

Wakka could handle it, would any of his friends be seriously hurt if it hit them? Hayner would be severely pissed, but him, Olette and Pence could probably take it. So, without a second thought, he kicked the bag over the first step and listened to the satisfying thumping it made as it traveled down the stairs… And then the crash, yell, and swear of it hitting, most likely, Hayner.

Of course.

"Damn it, Roxas! You attacked me with your fucking bag?!" Roxas sighed as he reached the bottom of the stairs, watching Hayner lift said bag over his shoulder, getting a hard punch, one that would leave a bruise, on his arm from the temperamental blonde as his pay back.

"Ow, geez, abusive much? And you wonder why I attack you with bags." Roxas smirked as Hayner took a play-threatening step towards him, "What, you wanna take this outside, cause we can go, right here and now."

"Not in the kitchen, boys, if you want to kill each other with cutlery, buy your own and take it off my shops grounds. I don't want your dead bodies on my hands." Lulu smirked at them as she carried a drowsy Vidina down the stairs with her, "Good morning, Hayner."

The blonde frowned and hiked the bag farther up his shoulder, "Well, it would've been."

Roxas scowled at his friend, "Relax, it'll only be for a little while, as soon as I can talk to my uncle, I'll have him send me back. And if he won't send me back, I'll get a job, get money, and then get myself back."

"Ya, that sounds a 'ole lot better than that hitch-hiking plan 'o yours." Wakka grinned, walking into the room with Pence and Olette quickly following him.

Olette was the first one to run over and nearly suffocate him in her hug, "Please come back soon, Rox! It's not gonna be the same without you here!"

He grinned dropping his other bag to give the girl a proper hug back, "Don't worry, I already promised, like, three times, I think, to come back. I'm not planning on breaking any of those."

"You havta come back, Rockus," The blonde smiled at Vidina's tired expression, walking over to the toddler to ruffle his hair, "You have Moogle, you havta bring him back to me."

"Don't worry, Vida, I'll be back before you know it, alright?" The child just nodded, making another attempt to smile, then promptly conked out against his mother's shoulder again.

Lulu smiled, wrapping an arm around him, making him bury his face in her shoulder in the embrace, "Do call everyday, Vida won't be the only one who will want to hear your voice."

Nodding, Roxas jumped as Hayner's arm was suddenly wrapped around his neck loosely, making the blonde try to pull the arm away futilely. Hayner laughed at his best-friend's sad attempts, "Hey, those body guards will be carrying this bag for you, right? I don't know if you'll be able to handle this tiny load!"

Roxas glared and elbowed his friend in the stomach, finally making the arm drop, "Shut up, Hay. You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who threw the bag at someone."

"I'm not the dumbass who stood at the end of the stairs when you could hear that thing coming."

"Boys," Both looked up at Lulu, seeing her warning look.

Roxas smiled apologetically, "Sorry, Lu. Hay, help me take these out front?"

"Yeah, sure," The two left the kitchen, dropping the bags in front of the windows of the bakery.

They were quiet for a second, both looking out at the streets that were already becoming busier and busier, even so early in the day. Neither moving, neither making a sound, just watching it. For Roxas, treasuring it in his memory, scared for how long it would be until he saw it again.

Finally, Hayner was the one who broke the silence, "Don't get into any trouble down there, man, I can't protect you when you're on a freaking island, Rox."

The blonde just smiled, knowing what his best-friend was trying to do, "Yeah, I'll miss ya too."

Another pause of silence, then Hayner threw one arm around the shorter blonde, making a quick, barely there hug, "You're such a damn girl."

Roxas just laughed at him, "Thanks man, really, on that parting note, I will be waiting for your proposal underneath the bridge, at sunset, and I want a honeymoon in the Bahamas, fuck this cold Bastion weather."

"I knew it!" Both blondes jumped to see Olette and Pence walking into the room, Pence with an amused smile on his face, "Told ya they had a thing for each other, 'Let. Should've listened to me."

She giggled and walked over to the two boys, standing next to Hayner as Pence put his camera on the counter. Glancing over, Roxas saw it was his old one, the one that printed the picture right after taking it…

What did they call those again? Gah, it's too early to remember that sort of stuff. Like remembering what an aglet is at six am… Why did he just remember what an aglet was at six am, but not the name of the damn camera?

"What are you thinking of, Rox?" Olette asked as Pence set up the camera's timer carefully.

The blonde's gaze snapped over to her, surprising him out of his thoughts, "Oh, uh, I was wondering why I could remember what an aglet was at six in the morning."

Hayner wrinkled his nose, "Aglet?"

Olette frowned at him, rolling her eyes, "The plastic at the end of your shoelaces."

The other blonde gave his friends a weird look, "You're weird Rox, that's why. But don't worry, Olette has joined you in your weirdness."

She frowned at him, "I resent that statement."

"I resent your vocabulary."

She rolled her eyes at the tallest teen, "Shut up, Hay, you have the same vocabulary as us, ours is just more expanded."

Hayner just wrinkled his nose as he looked at her, giving her a disturbed look, "Cut it out, 'Let, you're starting to sound like one of those rich peoples. Being smart is great and all, but not when you get all that money and start treating us broke people like shit."

Roxas snorted, frown coming onto his face, "Thanks, Hay, really, I feel loved."

"And you are, my friend, you are. You want to know why?" Pence spun around, moving to sit on his knee in front of the three, making Olette smile and wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind and rest her head above his. Hayner smirked, throwing an arm around Roxas's shoulders and dragging him behind the two.

Roxas smiled, raising an eyebrow at his brunette friend, "Why Pence, because I used to buy your meals for you?"

They laughed as Pence smiled up at the blonde, "Well, that, and that camera over there is your camera, for your travel to the Islands. Put it in your album, buddy!"

Roxas's smile spread across his face ecstatically, as he looked at Hayner and Olette, too, the girl smiling warmly at him, "We all put some extra cash together, ran out at around midnight last night, and got it for you from some cheap pawn shop."

Hayner rubbed his nose, smirk still in place, "Yeah, and the owner guaranteed us it still worked like new, so if the thing breaks, call and I'll mess the place up, good. Maybe even get Seifer and his goons to help out, too."

Roxas laughed, and suddenly the flash blinding them as it went off, making everyone jump a moment after, "Damn, that's like a fucking-"

"Hayner, language aroun' Vida!" Wakka walked in, looking at the camera as it printed out the picture, chuckling as he saw the moment before their surprise by blinding.

"Chicken-wuss Two, I heard you're running away!" Everyone looked up to the front door to see Seifer smirking down at them, Rai and Fuu standing beside him, like the loyal dogs they were playing.

Roxas smirked at the man, "Yeah, your face scares me half to death, I have to get outta this city as soon as possible."

He chuckled, walking up and throwing another arm around the blonde, making Roxas briefly feel slightly pitiful by being shorter than both Hayner and Seifer. Another bright flash went off, though, making everyone yelp and blink up at Lulu, standing with the camera as Wakka held Vida, "You were having a Kodak moment."

Pence laughed slightly, "That's not a Kodak."

She just shrugged, "A camera is a camera to me."

Roxas ducked out from under the other blonde's arms, walking over to take the camera from the mother, watching as the photo was printed out and began developing. A smile worked it's way across his face as he looked down at the picture, turning back to see the bag with his album in it at Seifer's feet.

As Seifer and Hayner began to bicker about something, Roxas had learned how to tune them out like everyone else over the years, he got to his knees and unzipped the bag to pull the album out. Fuu came up behind him, glancing at the cover, "Russian."

Roxas nodded quickly, flipping it open to the page he marked home just last night, "Yep, my mom bought it somewhere in Russia before I was born. The words mean something like, 'Forgotten Memories.'"

"Sentimental." Roxas just nodded to her, sliding the new picture of everyone in next to the one of Wakka, Lulu and Vidina.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Are you sure you're a man?" Seifer smirked at him, watching as the blonde pushed the album back into the bag, before looping the strap of the camera around his neck. He just hopped he wouldn't look like a lame tourist or something.

Roxas scowled up at the taller blonde, finally getting onto his feet as he realized he was on his knees right at Seifer's feet, something that would be extremely awkward and embarrassing if noticed by anyone else, "I'm positive. I think you-"

"ROXAS Casey!" Said blonde jumped as a tall man with red hair suddenly swept into the room, a smirk stretched across his face. He quickly walked up to the group, swinging the bags over his shoulder as he walked, "Nice ta meet ya, name's Reno, that's all you can call me, got it? Get lost, yell for me. Get attacked, scream for me. Get hor-"

A choked out cry came from the tall man as a hand suddenly flew back to clutch his lower back, from behind him came another tall man, only with silver hair and piercing bluish-green eyes, "Don't you dare say that out loud. Not in public, keep it in check and think with your head."

Reno smirked, something that looked painful, "Riku, thanks buddy, really, I needed a new bruise there. But you now, I could get a head down-" Another cry came as Riku punched his lower back, again, in what seemed to be the same place, "Alright, fine, whatever."

Riku sighed and turned to Roxas, "My name's Riku, that is the name you will call me by. Are you ready to go yet?"

Roxas blinked for a moment at the two, mind still on what Reno had possibly been about to say, slightly scared to try and figure out what he would've said if Riku hadn't hit him. He sighed slowly, nodding in conformation.

* * *

"_Everybody wants a piece of you,_

_Everyone takes a piece of me,"_

* * *

Sora leaned back in his chair, eyes darting around the papers in front of him on the dining room table. He had just enrolled Roxas into his school, his parents would be paying the dues and such, he would take Roxas out to get his uniform tomorrow or something, maybe this afternoon if he is up to it. He re-hired Cid, something every member of the house was happy about, except Sora's parents, but that didn't matter much.

They were never home to see Cid anyways, why would it matter to them?

For whatever reason, Aerith chose the room next to Sora's for Roxas. Sora's was at the end of the hall, Roxas's to the right of his door. And then Leon, under the orders to set two rooms near Roxas, set one room across from Sora and the other next to Roxas's. All in all, Sora desperately hoped he would dislike these people, he was going to be living very close to them for quite awhile.

A loud banging came from the kitchen, making the brunette flinch and nearly jump out of his seat. Then he remembered Cid was in the kitchen, and he settled back down, sighing slightly.

"Tired?" His eyes snapped open to see Cloud standing not too far away, a smirk settled over his features, "It's almost noon."

Sora bit his lip lightly, looking up to the old grandfather clock near the kitchen door, it read eleven-forty-five. He fought back a groan, as he still had to call his parents and tell Axel that Roxas was arriving at all. Yeah, this would go over well with the redhead, "Oh, hey, Ax, yeah, well, you see, this kid neither of us know is going to be moving in with us for awhile. When? Oh, in about fifteen minutes." Yeah, go over excellent.

Wincing at the on coming headache, he reached over and snatched up his phone, preparing to dial his parents first. Maybe he would wait until Axel actually showed up, maybe it would be better with the guy there with them? Probably not, but he would rather procrastinate it anyways.

"_Hello?"_

"Oh, Mother, Roxas Casey has arrived a day early. Everything as already been prepared for his arrival."

"_Alright, I'll tell your father. He's here with me. Call us if anything comes up."_

"Yes, good bye." The dial tone was heard before he even reached the end of his sentence, making him sigh and glare at his phone. It wasn't the phone's fault, but he could pretend, right?

"Young Master?" Sora jumped, looking up to see Cloud still in the same spot, having forgotten he was there, the man was so quiet.

Sora just nodded towards the butler, "Has Cid finished preparing lunch yet?"

Cloud nodded, frown coming over his expression, "Although, he seemed disgruntled by the… lack of his usual flair."

Sora laughed, smile brightening his face significantly, "Sounds like him, it will be fine. I had not been expecting much with on such short notice."

Cloud nodded, smirk returning to his features as Sora sighed again, "And the others are…"

"Aerith and Yuffie are making last minute adjustments to the garden, Leon is waiting for them to arrive any minute now by the door, to carry the luggage up to the rooms with me." Sora nodded, about to comment when the kitchen door swung open revealing Cid and a tray of… unique food.

Sora blinked, eyes wide as Cid placed a giant tray of what looked to be ham on the table, jutting out from it was a sword, "A-A, um, Cid, is that a real sword?"

The gruff man looked from the teen to the weapon on the table, "Yep, that my double-edge meat cutting sword! Just wait until those guest o' yours get 'ere! We'll show them some real men's dining!"

A small part of Sora told him to order Cid to take the sword out of the ham and hide it in some dark part of a closet somewhere, never to be seen again. But the brunette chose to ignore that part, as another, much bigger part, was a lot more excited to see Cid cut the meat with the sword.

Like you wouldn't?

A knocking at the front entrance was heard, as it was more like a very loud banging. Sora sighed as he glanced at Cloud and nodded, he quickly thanked Cid for the food and jumped up from his chair, his blonde butler holding the door open for him as he stepped out into the foyer. There, Leon was holding the door open for three people, and Sora took the chance to quickly look them over.

The first man was tall, muscled, with silver hair and the most dazzling bluish-green eyes Sora had ever seen. The man was carrying three bags, which he dropped next to Leon as the brunette had asked, so Sora assumed he was one of the body guards Rufus had sent.

The next man was taller than the first, with hair as bright red as Axel's, also similarly styled, except tied in the back so it looked like it had some minor control to it. His eyes were a light blue, though, which was probably the biggest difference from Axel, who had green eyes from their mother. Squinting, Sora thought he could make out curved red lines under each eye, but it was hard to make out from so far away since they were red like his hair. This man had also dropped three or four bags next to Leon, leaving Sora to assume he was also, not Roxas.

And the last man… teen, was a blonde, more around his height. His hair was curled to the side, sweeping up in a strange way that made Sora believe he probably hadn't tried to brush it down after he awoken that morning. His eyes, though, were even more dazzling than the first man's. His were a deep sky blue that seemed to draw him in. Sora noticed at that time, that the he was not carrying any bags, just a single camera that was hanging from a strap around his neck… And on old camera it seemed. It was one of those ones that printed the photo after it took the picture. Where did he ever manage to get one of those?

But, judging by how he was not carrying any bags, he looked to be the least capable of fending for himself out of the three, it left Sora to assume that he was Roxas. So, breathing deeply and fending off his headache, he plastered on another smile and began walking up to the small group, Cloud following closely behind him.

The first ones to notice him were the silver haired and red haired man, Roxas was still staring at Leon's scar. Leon had some baring though, not even reacting to the gaze that seemed to be glued to him. The redhead jumped up in front of the other body guard, hand out with a smile spread across his face, "Yo, Roxas Casey, how you doin'?"

A blush spread fast over Roxas's face, attention snapping to the redhead as a indignant scowl flooded his features quickly, "Shut up! I don't talk like that!"

Sora bit the corner of his lip to not laugh at the blonde teen, finding amusement in the way he reacted to the jest, "Am I to assume you are Roxas Casey, then?"

Roxas finally cut his glare from Reno, turning his attention to the brunette teen in front of him for the first time. He nodded quickly, not wanting to seem dumb or anything in front of the rich people, "Yep, you're one of the Taylor's, right? Um, my uncle-"

Sora was already nodding, sticking his hand out to shake Roxas's. The blonde looked surprised by it for a moment before taking the handshake, quickly. "Yes, my name is Sora Taylor, it is a pleasure to meet you, Roxas. Leon and Cloud will bring your bags up to your rooms while we eat lunch."

The brunette suddenly remembered the sword that was sticking out of the ham, a small smirk tugging at his lips as he turned to the body guards, "You are hired by Mister Rufus Shinra, correct?"

The silver haired one quickly cut in before the redhead would have a chance to speak, "Yes, I am Riku and this is Reno. We understand that we will be staying here, near Roxas for his stay?"

Sora nodded, turning to lead them back to the dining room, Cloud and Leon quickly taking the chance to grab the bags and bring them to the rooms. Roxas personally took the chance to look around at the home.

From the outside, it has just seemed ancient, well kept, but still like it had been standing for damn near forever. Inside was different, the walls were painted a deep rouge, the color still seeming to be as vibrant as the day it was painted. The furniture were all rich, dark brown colors, the tables clean enough to see your reflection on, and the cushions on the love seats and chairs fluffy enough to still make it look new. The rugs were a pure white, no stains or trails worn in, soft even underneath his own ratty old sneakers…

Oh, god.

Roxas fearfully looked over his shoulder and gasped as he saw the trail of dirt he had tracked over the once beautifully clean carpet, his heart picking up speed at the thought of how mad Sora was bound to be at how Roxas had already dirtied his perfect home. Rich people were always overly concerned with absolute perfection in that stuff. Great, already they're not gonna get along.

Said brunette turned around at the sound of the blonde's quick intake of breath, seeing Roxas staring wide-eyed behind himself, "Is something the matter, Roxas?"

He quickly turned to face Sora once again, smile being pasted onto his face, "U-Uh, no! No, nothing at all. Great! Um…"

Sora raised an eyebrow at him, making the blonde turn away from the gaze, fingers twiddling the strap of the camera nervously. Reno looked around the shorter boy and laughed, "Hey, chief, looks like he brought a little of his home with him, yo!"

Roxas scowled again, glaring at the redhead, "I don't live in dirt!"

Sora blinked, "Why is the dirt significant?"

Reno raised an eyebrow at him, "What, don't all rich people have little issues with their homes?"

"Excuse me?" Sora frowned at them, eyebrows furrowing as he felt slightly insulted, "No, I honestly don't care. I have neither paid for it, or will have to clean it. Roxas, if you really feel guilty over such a trivial matter, than you could apologize to one of the maids or butlers, as they're the ones who will be cleaning it. But I wouldn't let your conscious take such a beating over it."

The blonde sighed in relief as the other turned away, eyes darting around to see if any of said maids or butlers witnessed the embarrassing scene. He just wasn't made for the rich life, he was going to screw up a lot, he knew it the moment they had pulled up to the house and he snapped a picture of it. Seeing no servants anywhere around, he felt his shoulders relax slightly from the relief. He definitely didn't want to get on their bad sides, especially if he didn't get along with anyone else, he could at least not have the staff purposely trying to make his life miserable.

On the flight over, Roxas had realized two important things. He would not get along with Reno. At all. The man flirted with him, then poked fun at him when the blonde ignored him, tried to anger him when he realized the blonde would yell if provoked enough, and generally did all he could do to annoy Roxas. And Riku would only help with the flirting, hitting Reno everytime he made some sort of advance on the short blonde, but otherwise, he was silent mostly the entire trip. And quiet had always made Roxas nervous and antsy. So the trip, as probably obvious by now, was not pleasant.

Just reaching the doors to what Roxas would assume was the dining room, Sora turned to face them with a polite smile, "I will ask you to please not be disturbed by anything you may witness in here. Everything is completely under control, and I promise no one will come to harm… Most likely."

Reno blinked, "Say what?"

Sora opened the doors and lead them inside, no response given as Reno started to bumble things about the giant ass sword that was sticking out of the ham in the middle of the table. Walking around said giant wood table, Sora took a seat in what Roxas assumed would be where the head of the house would be, making the blonde wonder just where the other teen's parents were.

"Well, ya need me to lead ya to yer seat or somethin'?" Roxas flinched as he turned to see a rough looking man, probably in his forties, a stubble clear across his face and a tooth-pick sticking out from between his lips. His short blonde hair was disheveled, unkempt for what looked like years of time. The man was looking down at him harshly, eyebrow raised at he snorted.

Roxas quickly looked back at the table to see Riku and Reno walking over to two table settings on one side of Sora, the brunette smiled and made a small head gesture to the single place setting to his other side, silently telling the blonde to hurrying his ass up and stop embarrassing himself…

Or maybe Roxas just thought that to himself and Sora was trying to help, either way, the teen nearly ran to the seat to get the stares off him, he hated when people laughed at him.

Cid smiled, an act that seemed far more maniac than it really should have, as he quickly walked to the ham, hand grasping the sword's hilt and instantly putting Reno and Riku on edge, especially since he was only a foot or two from Roxas. The man didn't even notice them, though, pulling the sword out and holding it over the ham with both hands, "Now, who wants the first slice, eh?"

* * *

"_That one stings a little,_

_I'm always in the middle,"_

* * *

Sora groaned as he laid back onto his bed, already in his boxers and t-shirt for sleep. He yawned, feeling the soft mattress begin to work out the kinks that had developed in his back from just one day of stress. After discussing with Roxas things about school, the uniform, his grades, getting a physical, and other important things he had discovered needed attention, he could see the blonde's head spinning.

He decided he would take care of most of the things for him, Roxas didn't seem to know where to even begin. And so he turned to Reno and Riku, the two body guards of Shinra. He certainly had to wonder exactly why Rufus wanted them to stay here. Maybe because he had researched and discovered Sora's kidnapping when he was younger, and so wanted to make sure there was protection for Roxas?

That was most likely not the case. His parents never stopped bragging about how safe their house was, with all the advance alarm systems, Sora's personal self-defense knowledge, and every butler and maid being paid able to defend not only themselves but another fairly easily. So he honestly doubted it was exactly for that, and even if it was, one body guard would probably have made him content, there was no need for two.

Sora brushed off the mystery, though, figuring Rufus Shinra was most likely just one of those paranoid wealthy people, or that he deeply cared for the nephew he never knew until now.

He then proceeded to discuss with Reno and Riku where their rooms were conveniently located, the security systems the mansion has, the specific brands of locks they owned and how there were three master keys. One Sora kept on himself at all times, one Axel kept hidden in a safe place in his room so he wouldn't lose it, and one the head butler, Leon, possessed.

After this, they asked for a tour of the mansion, probably to survey it, which Sora didn't mind too much… But it took three hours to get all around the place, including the garden, courtyard, and _**every single**_ room.

Sora, to say the least, was exhausted. So when Axel came into his room, throwing the door open and stomping into the center of the place, Sora nearly cried.

"What the fuck, Sor?! You didn't tell me people started living here! What if I had seen one of them before you told me! I would've thought they were trying to rob us or something, I would've attacked them!"

"Ax, calm down. Father and Mother invited Roxas Casey, Rufus Shinra's nephew, to stay here. The other two are Riku and Reno, they're his body guards, courtesy of the owner of Shinra Corps. himself."

Axel sneered at the wall, "They invited him before even asking us? Ha, can't say that surprises me…"

Sora looked up from his pillow, frowning at his brother gently, "Ax, I am sure-"

"Did they even ask you before they invited him?" Axel was nearly glaring holes into the wall, making the brunette sigh and bury his head in his pillow again.

"They asked me if I would mind-"

"So they didn't ask you if it was alright?"

"I said they did ask if I would mind, don't pretend you didn't hear me, Ax!" Sora scowled, throwing himself into a sitting position to at least see him while they fought.

Axel finally turned his piercing green eyes onto the brunette, grimace holding more sadness than anger by this point, "Don't give me that bull, Sor, we both know telling them how we really feel when they ask if we mind doesn't make a difference. I proved that! And now they lock me in my room when there are other people around so they don't have to walk around with their shame in plain view!"

"You're not shaming them!"

"Then I'm disappointed in myself!" Axel was back to glaring at the wall again, making Sora bite his lip to keep himself from saying anything he'd most likely regret. Finally the redhead turned to look at him, "I just… I don't want you to be controlled by them Sor, and you doing all of this for them. No, them telling others they will do something, then turning around and telling you to do it instead, for them. It's not right, they don't treat you like a son, they don't treat either of us like a son. They give you trouble, and they do it so easily that they don't even have to be here to make you so miserable. You…"

Axel hesitated, debating what to say, and Sora took the chance to cut in, "Roxas, according to Mister Shinra, he needed a place to live, or something like that. What was I suppose to do? Father had already agreed to take him in, was I just suppose to look at him and say, 'No, I will not take care of some poor kid in need?'"

Axel shook his head violently, the spikes bouncing along with the shakes, "No, but I'm just saying, this is getting out of hand, Sor. You do whatever they tell you to, even if it causes you pain, and you do it to get their praise and approval, to get their love. Trust me, Sor, they're not going to give anything to you, they didn't show any love to me, no matter what I did. I don't want you to feel the same as I did in the end, when I realized I would never get it."

The brunette rolled over, turning his back to his brother, "I will be fine, you do not have to worry about me."

The redhead stared at his younger brother's back for a moment, watching for a tremble, for a weakening to show he needed someone to comfort him. But nothing showed, just his back, like a sturdy wall of bricks.

So Axel laid down next to him and hugged the shorter teen to his chest anyways, comforted him despite the seemingly lack of need for comfort anyways, because he knew that Sora wasn't who he seemed.

In just the next room over, Roxas yawned loudly, looking around to see what he would be living in until he could get back to Hollow Bastion. It was nice, he could tell, probably beautiful, but it was dark in the room, and Roxas was too tired to turn the lights on, properly appreciate it, and then go to bed. So he just skipped the process, placed the camera on the coffee table placed in front of a couch to the side of the room, and then trudged over to the bed.

He threw himself onto the heavenly soft mattress, a deep sigh of contentment flooding from him as he felt his body practically melt into the bed. He became much to comfortable like that, feeling his eyes shut and himself beginning to slip into unconsciousness every second he remained awake and on that bed.

It's not like you could blame him for being so exhausted, though. He had woken up early, six fucking am, said goodbye to his friends, was escorted by one lunatic and another mute to an airport, boarded a private jet after the mute finished searching his bags, leading Roxas to being teased by the redhead for having Moogle…

The blonde's eyes snapped open, remembering the doll that was shoved into the confines of his bag. Homesickness suddenly washed over him in a wave of heart crushing pressure, compelling him into lifting himself from the bed and searching for where Leon and Cloud had placed his bags. Spotting them by the door, Roxas wondered vaguely how they knew they were his, because they didn't have his name on them, but then shrugged it off, pulling them to the couch. Falling back on the cushions, he quickly unzipped one, huffed in annoyance when he realized it was the one with all his art things, so he picked it up and put it on the coffee table, next to the camera.

Reaching for the other bag, he unzipped it and pulled out the doll, smiling softly as he remembered how cute Vidina looked as he grew up, always dragging that doll around with him. He glanced back down at the bag and spotted the photo album and skateboard. Sighing softly, he placed the doll beside him and pulled the album out, putting it on the table before tugging his skateboard out and placing it on the floor.

Sitting up, he reached into his pockets, pulling out two pictures that he had taken between that morning and now. One was, clearly, on the jet, Reno, his face screaming hilarity as he looked to be in the middle of laughing, getting punched in the arm by Riku, whose scowl looked just as disgruntled and annoyed as always. Roxas rolled his eyes, remembering how Reno had just said something perverted, that being the reason why Riku had punched him, he had decided that moment to take the picture because…

Well, those two were always like that, it seemed routine to them.

Slowly, he slid it into the album, in the page behind _Home_, and he hesitate before picking up the pen and writing on the label: _Just Reno and Riku._

They hadn't given any last names, and from how he saw them behave, this was all he was going to expect from them. So he shrugged it off and reached for the other picture, looking down to study it better than he originally had time to the first time. It was a picture of the front of Sora's mansion, showing just how ancient of a feeling you got from the place. It creeped him out slightly, if it had been for how well kept it was, he would've thought the mansion was abandoned, it just gave that kind of feeling.

He sighed tiredly, slipping it into the next page, and looking down at the label. He held the pen carefully in his hands, hovering over the label and wondering what he should write. Obviously, he wasn't about to name it "home" or "new home," because this place wasn't and never will be his home. He was planning on getting out of it as soon as possible.

If anything, with a constant annoyance like Reno, Riku seeming to be nearly mute, lunch and dinner with Cid hacking away at meat with his sword, and Sora seeming to be a rich kid, that someone who has lived in dirty Hollow Bastion would never be able to compare to, was even more motivation to get the hell out of here.

Sighing to himself once more, he furrowed his eyebrows and glared at the label, quickly scribbling out: _Hell._

* * *

"_And I, I won't say anything at all."_


	3. Family

_**Another chapter up! Sorry, it took a lot longer than I expected because I suddenly became sick... again. Yep, I'm sneezing my brains out once again, which isn't really surprising because I'm always sick all throughout winter, it usually doesn't get too bad. But then Drama Club grabbed up my time with "Festival" being tomorrow, so I won't have much to any time tomorrow to do anything. That weighing on my mind, I had decided to finish this chapter for you guys. I tried not to make this too long, it was about fourteen pages on Word, a couple pages smaller than the previous two chapters.**_

**_Anyways, I used the song "Over My Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray, I absolutely love that band, so don't be surprised if you hear another one of their songs used... or maybe two more. Like I said, I really love those guys! But I hope you love this chapter, or at least don't hate it. Honestly, I hadn't been planning the ending to go quite that way, but it fits into my plans well anyways. So, once again, enjoy, and please review! Thanks to "Rokurei" and "futile flutter" for their reviews!_**

**_

* * *

_**

_**3 :: Family**_

* * *

"_I never knew,_

_I never knew that everything was falling through,"_

* * *

Roxas blinked at the cable box's bright red letters, glaring back at him through the dim lighting of his bedroom. It told him it was nine at night, but he knew it had to be lying. It was impossible that he had spent the entire day with Axel, from eight in the morning to eight at night, shopping for his new school's uniform, that Axel insisted they grabbed some accessories to spice it up. Then they came back, ate dinner together, as he found out Sora had been doing… paperwork?

Axel had said something about the ridiculous amount of paperwork from the school that his parents had dumped onto Sora, they being too busy to take care of the kid they were taking in. The redhead hadn't missed a beat, snorting and rolling his eyes with every little smart-ass remark he made about his parents. Roxas just sat quietly, listening to him.

He had felt guilty, Sora doing all that work for him while the blonde went out with his brother and shopped, it wasn't fair that he had to stay in and do work. So there Roxas sat, wondering if Sora was still working on that stuff this late at night. It wouldn't be sane, to work on that sort of stuff all day long. Then again, Roxas didn't really know Sora, so he couldn't make any judgments just yet. Maybe the guy was a super genius?

Ignoring the mental groaning his sore legs caused him as he stood, he walked to his door, opening it and glancing at the brunette teen's door, or more specifically, the crack beneath it. A dim light was coming from beneath it, making Roxas sigh quietly.

Frowning, he quietly shut his door and lightly knocked on Sora's, hoping it was soft enough to not bother Riku and Reno, whose rooms were right next to and right across from his, but loud enough to catch the brunette's attention. He wouldn't know if he disturbed Riku and Reno any, but his knock did manage to catch Sora's attention.

As the teen opened the door, Roxas felt another stab of guilt at him as Sora stared at him with heavy eyes, "Roxas, how can I help you?"

The blonde shifted awkwardly for a moment, suddenly realizing that he maybe should have thought of what to say before randomly bothering the other teen, but then shrugged and decided to wing it, he pretty much just did that everyday of his life anyways, "Um, Axel said the school had sent a lot of paperwork about me and you had been doing it all day, and, uh, well, I guess I felt kinda bad or something, so I was wondering if I could help?"

Sora just blinked at him for a moment, expression blank as he tried to remember the paperwork Axel had told Roxas about. Sora had, actually, slept half the day, did homework, got a couple calls from some of his "friends" about "emergencies" (drama that didn't really concern him) and then slept some more. The only paperwork Sora could think about was the trivial sort that he got with the course expectations for the blonde's classes, the sort you get a small pile of every year.

The brunette had completed that yesterday, however, after dinner. So there really wasn't anything left except for him to bring those and Roxas to the office on Monday, and everything would be set.

"Ah, I finished that yesterday, I was doing homework today." Roxas's eyes widened at that, staring at the brunette in slight amazement.

"All day? Oh geez, I'm not gonna survive this school if they're giving out that much homework!"

The teen felt amusement bubble up in him from the blonde's misconception. Yes, Sora had done homework for about five hours today, but it was really mostly studying future material so he wouldn't have a chance to fall behind in anything. However, he wasn't about to mention this to Roxas, seeing the blonde get so worried over it was kind of… funny.

Sora let out a small chuckle, making Roxas frown at him, "Don't make fun of me, I'm not smart or anything. I just hope I got some easy classes."

The brunette made an appreciative hum, nodding, "Mostly art classes, I had looked at your schedule from your old school when setting your classes yesterday, and you had a lot of those, so I figured you would want them at our school, also. Although, your Science and English classes are required for you to pass this year."

Roxas scowled, restraining the groan of disappointment, he had nearly been over-joyed at the thought of all the art classes, but Science and English… "I'm doomed. I can't get past a Science class without getting a scar, mental or physical, and I can't make jack shit out of those books you read in English."

Sora chuckled again, leaning against his doorway, "Well, you have both of those with me, so I would not be so worried. I am sure you will be fine… In English, at least. I'm not quite so helpful in Science."

Roxas just had a bit of a frightful look on his face as he looked at the brunette, "What Science is it?"

Sora smiled apologetically, "Chemistry, it is required for Juniors at our school."

Roxas felt like he was going to die, "Of course, that's the most dangerous one, isn't it?"

Sora thought for a moment, his face frowning as he looked at the blonde teen, "How did you manage to scar yourself in Biology?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Uh, hello? Reproductive system? And of course, I was my teacher's least favorite student, so he was sure to assign me a project on that for my final grade."

Sora blushed lightly, but chuckled a bit nonetheless, "Well, it could have been worse?"

Roxas frowned, "No, the pothead who slept through his class, his second least well liked student, was assigned the heterosexual part… I was assigned homosexual, which doesn't make much sense, because they can't reproduce, but… Are you okay?"

Sora's face had lit up like a Christmas tree the moment Roxas had said "homosexual," but the brunette just cleared his throat roughly, turning his gaze away quickly, "Y-yes, um, I should be getting to bed now, so, uh, excuse me. Goodnight!"

The door was quickly shut, before Roxas could even get another word in, making the blonde frown in concern as he turned to walk back to his room, never noticing the door across from him slowly shutting quietly.

Once back in his room, he took another glance at his cable box, sitting under the TV on the entertainment center, flashing the numbers nine-fifteen. Sighing, he wondered if Sora was uncomfortable about homosexuality, and that was why the brunette acted in such a way. Roxas sure hoped not, he already knew that he was gay, so that would make things between the two rough, because Roxas wasn't about to deny his sexuality.

He frowned distastefully, his situation here just looking worse and worse, and it was giving him a headache.

Sighing, he took another look at the clock and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to call back home. There was only a six hour time difference, meaning it should be three in the afternoon there, so Lulu and Wakka would be able to pick up. He stepped back out in the hallway, looking up and down it to see if anyone was in view, he definitely didn't want someone in this house over-hearing a private conversation.

Spotting the phone just down the hall, past all the guest rooms and near what Roxas believed was a closet, he quickly walked down to it, hoping he would be out of earshot of the others that shared his hallway, he wouldn't want to wake them up or anything. Sora had looked exhausted, and Riku and Reno… Had probably been busy, too.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen those two once all day. Not that it was a bad thing. As said before, he didn't particularly like either of them, Reno for obvious reasons and Riku because he was so stone-y… Is that really a word? Eh, probably not, but it's not like Roxas cared. He would speak whatever language he wanted to get his message across, and that's probably the reason why he does so bad in English.

Gently picking the phone off it's cradle, he blinked at the shiny white surface of it. It was expensive, that was for sure, so Roxas wasn't too worried about making a long-distance call to Hollow Bastion on it. If they could afford such expensive phones, then they could afford the bill for them, too…

And if they didn't want to pay the bill, then Roxas really hoped his uncle would pick it up because he wouldn't be able to pay for it, that's for sure.

Before he could change his mind, the consequences this call may bring him beginning to penetrate his conscious, he quickly dialed the number to Hollow Bastion, listening to the silence and then ringing. It must have rung fifteen times before someone finally picked up, making Roxas sigh in relief.

"_Lulu's Bakery-"_

"Lulu!" Roxas nearly yelled before remembering where he was, he slapped a hand over his mouth before quickly glancing up and down the hall. Seeing no one, he sighed in relief as he heard the woman over the phone recover from her surprise.

"_Roxas? Is that you? How are you?"_

Roxas smiled at her voice, feeling his heart calmed from some tension that he hadn't even been aware of, "I'm fine, everything here is fine. I'm with the Taylors, or actually, their sons, Sora and Axel. Oh, and those guys that picked me up at home, Riku and Reno. I haven't met Sora and Axel's parents yet, though, or my uncle."

"_I'm sure you'll see them soon, don't worry about it, you'll be home in no time at all."_ Roxas had never thought of Lulu as a mother figure, but hearing her voice and having her just say some of the most simplest of comfort words made him relax in a way a mother surely would relax her child.

"So, how are things there? You guys a total wreck without me yet?" He chuckled softly at the teasing he made, knowing Lulu would be smirking from her end. He leaned against the wall, sliding down to wrap and arm around his knees and rest his head there.

"_We haven't fallen to pieces just yet, but give it a couple more hours and I'm sure I'll find Wakka curled up in your bed and sobbing with his head in your pillow."_ Roxas couldn't help the laughter that came from him, hoping he was still keeping quiet enough to not wake anyone, _"But Hayner and Seifer, I don't know how they will survive without you around. Olette stopped by around noon to tell me they're already becoming more and more testy around each other without you to mediate things."_

Roxas frowned at that, concern washing over him before surprise got to him, "Me? I don't mediate anything, I just tell them to shut up and they do it. And if they don't hear you the first time, yell louder." He smirked as he said this, amusement coming from the memories of those two blonde bone-heads.

He could practically hear Lulu's sigh over the phone, _"You're the only one they listen to, Rox, it's because of their crushes on you, I'm sure. Anyone else who would try that would-"_

The blonde's mouth was dropped open in shock before he spluttered and interrupted her, "W-Wait! Go back! Rewind! What did you say?"

He could hear Lulu's chuckle from over the phone, _"Don't tell me you were actually that dense, Rox,"_ The silence was her answer, _"Oh, I had just thought you were pretending. I'm sorry, Roxas, they've both had a crush on you since you entered high school, I believe. And since you left, without you around, they just argue about you more because you're not there to tell them to stop."_

His gaze bored into the wall across from him, "That's impossible, Lu, don't joke around like that…"

"_Roxas, you know I wouldn't-"_

"That's a really bad joke, you should learn some better ones from Wakka." Roxas could hear her sigh after

* * *

"_I never knew that everything was falling through,_

_That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue,"_

* * *

The blonde stared up at the ceiling distraught, eyes still wide with shock from learning about his best-friend's and his other friend's crushes on him. Of course, now it seemed more obvious. How Seifer hated Hayner and completely ignored Pence and Olette, only coming around to see Roxas. How Hayner would always treat Roxas special, never yelled at him and always would say he'd protect him. How they would constantly fight for no real apparent reason, until now at least, around him, but Roxas had always just assumed that their personalities naturally clashed.

But no, they were fighting over him. They had always been fighting over him. That was just… disturbing. Honestly, Roxas wished he hadn't made that phone call home, he had made it to get his mind off of coming _here_, and it instead shoved drama in his face, not on purpose because Lulu would never do that, and gave him a whole different headache to deal with.

Groaning in his frustration, the boy glared at the blank TV screen, having never turned it on because he never liked TV that much, laying on the couch as his thoughts swarmed into a buzzing and stinging mass in his brain. Finally, when the buzzing became too loud, when his thoughts about what he could do about Hayner and Seifer became too loud, when he was sure his brain would burst. He did the only thing that was sure to get his mind off of anything.

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his sketchbook, flipping it open and past the older drawings in search of a new, clean page. Finally finding one, he dug through the bag until he managed to find a pencil, it was one used for shading, not drawing, but it would do for now. He really just wanted to draw and lose himself for the moment, not make a masterpiece.

He thought for a second, shutting his eyes as he came up with an image to draw. A dark, neon-lit city. Concrete buildings and streets, rain coming down harsh and cold, a single sky-scraper with large screen TV's being held against the front of the building by some miracle structure. There was no signs of life, just darkness.

Without another thought to it, he opened his eyes to stare at the page fixatedly, blocking out the world as he began to draw the sky-scraper's outline. The pencil moving across the paper with practiced skill and grace.

* * *

"_But that's how it's got to be,_

_It's coming down to nothing more than apathy,"_

* * *

Sora sighed to himself, watching his older brother pace back and forth in the room in slight discomfort. Not because Axel was in his room, never because of that. But because of what Axel was talking about: Roxas.

"He's just-just-I don't know! Something else! Something totally and completely different! Something-Fuck it! Fuck the eloquence! He's smart, cute, with a hot ass, and an adorable personality! Plus, he listens to every word I say!"

Sora frowned worriedly, he knew what Axel was getting at. The redhead had already told him about how he had spent the day with the blonde, and honestly, Sora hadn't been happy about it. For several reasons, because Axel got this little crush on him and he knew it would scare Roxas half to death when the blonde finds out (and Axel would most definitely get the message across), and because he wasn't completely sure that Roxas would reject him. Which would not be good.

Why?

… Because their parents wouldn't like it! Don't question the hesitation Sora had before answering, pretend it didn't happen.

"And then I was walking over here and I think he was calling home or something, and he was all curled up against the wall on the floor, it was so cute, he was all smiley, too. Then whoever he was talking to said something that didn't go over well, I don't know what, but-"

Sora looked up immediately, "Did it upset him?"

Axel raised an eyebrow at the brunette, making Sora shift uneasily for a moment, turning his gaze away to not make eye contact. The redhead shrugged then, "Dunno, well, I guess so. He looked surprised and… scared? Maybe? He looked really embarrassed and worried, mostly."

"What do you think they had said to Roxas?" Sora asked quietly, staring at the wall blankly. From his first impressions of the blonde, he didn't think the teen to be someone who would get so upset so easily. Maybe irritated and a little worried or embarrassed, but not the way Axel was making it sound.

Axel just looked at his brother strangely, the boy still staring at the wall in his own thoughts, then he shrugged, "I have no clue. He was sorta quiet after that. He just started talking about bad jokes, asked how some people were doing, then hung up and went back to his room."

Sora nodded slightly, then nearly jumped out of his skin as his phone began to ring loudly next to him on the bed. He quickly snatched it up and saw it was his mother, sighing deeply, he gave Axel a look that made the redhead roll his eyes and fall back on the bed next to him. Sora braced himself for whatever would be said first and then answered, "Hello?"

Axel watched with narrowed eyes as Sora seemed to begin to have an argument with his parents, something about his grades or something. A test he didn't do so good on? Either way, Axel knew it was trivial, and it only fueled his anger towards his parents that they would call and get so angry at the brunette who was already trying so hard that it was unhealthy.

Of course, they didn't know how hard Sora was trying, really, they were never around. They just thought he was studying like a normal student and would slack off at times, and that would be why some test grades wouldn't be as impressive as others. But Sora never slacked off, he would study for hours every freaking day. It drove Axel insane, knowing his little brother wasn't enjoying his life like he should, instead wasting it because of the insane expectations and responsibilities their parents were shoving onto the teen.

Anger suddenly at a new peak, Axel jumped off the bed and snatched the phone from the brunette's hand. Leaving Sora to stare morosely as Axel took up the argument in his place, a very usual occurrence. It always had the same result as when Sora argued with them, though. Sora spending even more time locked in his room and studying extra in whatever class he wasn't doing well enough in.

Honestly, he hated it. He hated studying, he didn't know why he needed most of his courses later in life, and he was certainly never going to use them. But it just sounded good that he was taking them. Plus, it would look good for college. This one had been about the math test Axel had helped him study for on Friday. He had gotten an eighty-nine on it, not an A.

His sapphire gaze watched Axel pace around the room, ranting loudly as the brunette lowered himself into laying down on the bed. It would have the same results as always, there was no reason to stay up and listen to it when his eyelids were already weighing so much, and if he was asleep, he wouldn't have to listen to them.

Listen to Axel preach about how Sora should be enjoying his life, that he shouldn't be expected to carry such heavy responsibilities as a teenager, that he should be given more freedom. But Sora knew his mother was retaliating with how Axel had taken pleasure in the wrong things and went down the wrong path, how he was too weak and cracked under the pressure but Sora could most certainly handle it better, how Axel was given too much freedom and had gone so wrong.

He hated their arguments, they always ended the same. He hated listening to them fight and say the same things over and over again, neither budging in their determination to prove the other wrong.

And that is how Sora fell asleep that night, curled in bed with Axel's voice yelling at their mother over the phone as his lullaby.

* * *

"_I'd rather run the other way than stay and see,_

_The smoke and who's still standing when it clears,"_

* * *

The brunette yawned, eyes cracking open to take in the sight of his room lit in the dim light of dawn. He shifted slightly, a weight around his shoulders falling off and rest behind his back. Frowning, he turned slightly and saw Axel passed out in bed next to him.

He had fought with their parents for that long, had yelled and screamed and go the same treatment back. If Axel hadn't been around, things would have been more peaceful, his parents probably wouldn't pressure him so much because they were afraid the redhead would influence him in some way. He may even have less to live up to, if Axel weren't around.

But Sora would never wish Axel away. He was his older brother, he loved him unconditionally.

The redhead had probably argued for so long he tired himself out, and decided to crash in Sora's bed instead of going back to his own. Sora was fine with that, he liked waking up with someone nearby rather than alone. He hated being alone.

Smiling softly, he rolled over to face his older brother's sleeping face, gently shutting his eyes once again and hoped that sleep would take him once again.

A knock at his door would be what ruined those chances, though. Axel's eyelids began to flutter as the redhead was waking up, and Sora just sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he called out to the door, "Enter."

Leon stepped in quickly, a concerned frown on his face, "Young Master Sora, Master Axel, your parents have arrived."

The brunette was silent as Axel stilled in waking up beside him, the room gone quiet as the news washed over them, then Sora jumped out of bed and ran to his closet, throwing it open to find some appropriate clothing, "Thank you, Leon! Please wake Roxas, Riku and Reno, now!"

The butler watched the brunette with some concern for another moment before shaking his head and leaving, most likely to wake the others like Sora had ordered. Axel just watched his younger brother run around the room in a panic, trying to get ready before their parents became too impatient. He snorted as the teen tripped over his pant leg and sent himself crashing to the floor, "Graceful is your middle name, isn't it?"

Sora scowled at him, standing and tugging the pants up fully, "Should you not be preparing to greet them, too?"

Axel sneered at the ceiling, "Not. You know they prefer to not see me. I'll just go back to sleep after you leave."

Sora continued to scowl, pity in his eyes before pulling a shirt over his head and running to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and hair, he threw some cold water on his face and dried it, hoping it would be enough to look like he didn't just wake up. Jogging back into his room, he saw Axel still in bed, only now he was back asleep.

The brunette rolled his eyes and ran to the door, throwing it open just in time to see a very groggy Roxas tumble out of his room. He raised an eyebrow at the blonde, watching the boy groan and pull himself up from the floor, he looked exhausted. Blinking, Sora went up to him and took his arm, making the other jump, "Roxas, are you alright?"

The blonde stared at him for a moment, in surprise, before nodding quickly, "Y-yeah, just didn't get much sleep between last night and now… When's now?"

Sora smiled softly, "It's around seven in the morning, what time did you go to bed?"

Roxas thought for a moment, frown coming onto his features, "I think I fell asleep around… three?"

The brunette shook his head, about to ask why the guy was even up that late when Riku's door opened suddenly, the silver haired man leaving the room with a very deep grimace on his face, "What is the reason for this?"

Sora blinked at him, surprised, "For what, may I ask?"

Riku was glaring unconsciously, making Roxas shift to stand behind Sora more to stay out of that sight, the guy's deep voice expressed his anger visibly, "What is the reason for waking me up at the crack of fucking dawn?"

Roxas had no idea that Riku was such a nasty morning person, but didn't have any time to contemplate it when an arm was suddenly thrown around him, dragging him into a body, "Relax, yo, you're a freaking sleeping beauty, aren't ya?"

Roxas scowled and pushed himself off of Reno, he turned his back to the redhead and faced Sora, "Why did Leon wake us up?"

Sora looked slightly awkward for a moment, worrying his lip lightly before speaking, "My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, have unexpectedly arrived, so we must go greet them."

Roxas just stared at him as Riku and Reno shrugged and began walking towards the foyer, "Wait-wait, why do we have to get up? Couldn't they wait until we wake up? I mean, it's not like they're gonna run away…"

Sora sighed apologetically, "My parents are not home often, they prefer for me and all guests to greet them when they do come home."

"Why not Axel?" Sora froze as Roxas gazed at him curiously, "Sora?"

The brunette frowned deeply, "No reason. Axel is different. He doesn't want to get up."

Without another word, the brunette brushed past him and began to quickly walk down the hall, not waiting for the blonde. Upon reaching the foyer, Sora glanced to the door to see his father and mother speaking to Riku and Reno politely, he heard Roxas approach from behind him quietly, and he began descending the stairs, catching his parent's attention.

"Ah, Sora," His father was the first to speak, a smile plastered to his face as he walked up to his son and lightly patted his shoulder, "How is everything here. Going accordingly?"

Sora just nodded, smiling back up at the man as his mother walked over quietly, nodding to her son before both of his parents turned their attention to Roxas, "Is this Roxas Casey?"

Sora nodded and stepped aside, allowing the blonde to step down and greet them. The blonde was frowning, though, "Uh, hi."

Riku punched Reno in the shoulder as the redhead began to laugh, making Sora sigh at them. Roxas just looked at them curiously, before turning his attention back to Sora's parents, who looked at him with amusement, Sora's mother spoke, "You say, 'Hello,' never 'Hi,' when speaking to the upper-class, Roxas. It is alright, though, seeing as how you grew up in Hollow Bastion."

The blonde blinked in surprise for a moment, unsure of what to say, wondering if he was just insulted in someway, because it sure felt like that. Before he had a chance to retort, however, Mr. Taylor decided to take the conversation, "How about we all take breakfast in the garden this morning? Cloud!" The blonde had just been caught leaving the dining room, standing up straight in his surprise at being called, "Bring breakfast to the garden for us, would you?"

The blonde paused and nodded, quickly turning and walking back into the dining room. Sora was sure the butler was angry that he would have to reset everything outside, but his pity was soon redirected to himself as his parents told Roxas, Riku and Reno to go ahead out to the garden ahead of them.

The brunette felt the nerves rise to his heart as his parents frowned at him, his father taking control of the conversation as usual, "Your mother tells me she had another fight about you with Axel last night. Now, Sora, you should not listen to Axel, he is obviously not a good example. We are expecting high achievements from you-"

Sora tuned the lecture out, nodding every once and awhile as he stared at their feet, wishing he could be anywhere but here at the moment.

* * *

"_I wish you were a stranger I could disengage,_

_To say that we agree and then never change,"_

* * *

The blonde teen looked around the garden, the table they were all sitting at had been placed right outside of the door leading outside. It looked like it was made out of white marble, much like the walkway and patio they were on, and on the expensive piece of furniture sat fine silverware, all of which was silver and shining brightly in the morning sun.

The shrubs around the patio were blooming with various flowers Roxas wouldn't be able to identify if his life counted on it, but they were beautiful and filling the air with a sweet scent. The walkway ran off the patio and into what seemed to be a maze of flowering bushes and trees, the foliage becoming so thick in parts that it appeared to be more like a very well controlled forest rather than a garden.

It was more than just impressive, Roxas had always thought that this kind of scenery would only be viewable to him on TV. But while it greatly affected him, he noticed how everyone else treated it with such nonchalance, disturbing him slightly how used to this beauty they must be… or at least, much more adapted to it than him.

Taking their seats, Mr. Taylor sat at the head of the table like Sora had the first time they ate in the dining room, when his parents hadn't been home. His wife sat on his right side while Sora sat on his left, Roxas being ushered to take a seat next to Sora while Riku took the seat next to him and Reno took the last one across from him. He glanced up to see Cloud stepping out and taking a position next to the door that lead back inside, making him feel slightly guilty that they would be eating right in front of the man.

Looking down at the food, he felt nervousness well into his gut as he looked over all the silverware.

"So, Roxas," The blonde flinched as the conversation was brought to him, the one who still had barely touched his food because he wasn't very certain what silverware was used for what. Was that a soup spoon?

The blonde quickly nodded, showing Mr. Taylor had his attention, the man continued, "I heard from Sora that you will be sharing two classes together, Chemistry and British Literature. May I ask what other classes you have chosen?"

He stared at them for a second, racking his mind to try and remember if Sora had told him of his other classes, or at least in a bit more detail than "art classes." Unfortunately, he came up with nothing, making him just sit there silently, nervously, like an idiot. Reno could barely contain his laughter when Sora cut in, coming to his rescue.

"We signed him up for many art classes. Such as Art History, Photography, Ceramics III, and some others like those." Mr. Taylor nodded thoughtfully as his son spoke, then turned his attention back to the blonde.

"So you enjoy art, Roxas? What are your plans for college?"

The blonde froze again, this time because he had never thought about college, he figured he would never go because he would have to work and support himself, "U-Um, well, I don't actually plan on going to college, I will have to work to pay for myself in Hollow Bastion so-"

Mr. Taylor began laughing, making the teen feel like he was just punched in the gut, "Now, I am sure Mr. Shinra will be more than happy to support you through college. He cares greatly for you, after all. You should be making plans for college, so go ahead, tell me what you would most likely study."

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed in frustration, he didn't want his uncle to support him, he could support himself just fine, scowling, he answered anyways, "Well… I guess I would probably study art. Like-"

This time it was Mrs. Taylor who interrupted, "Artists do not make much money, they are known to starve and live in the back of vans, are they not? You should be looking for a job that will make money, feed you, help you find a good wife, settle down and have a family-"

"I doubt that." Roxas had enough, scowling as he felt his anger rising in his chest along with a bit of hurt. What did this lady know? He was only concerned with his own happiness, he just wanted to make sure he was happy when he became older, he wasn't about to conform to them and suppress himself to make these people happy.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me, or for this uncle I've never heard of before to support me, and I don't need to hear what you think I should do. I know what I'm doing, I've been taking care of myself and living on my own since I was ten, and the only thing I care about is being happy with my life when I'm ding one day and looking back on my life. I don't want to regret anything."

His rapidly beating heart was the only thing he could hear in his ears, the only thing he could see was the door Cloud stood beside that lead back inside. He couldn't hear Reno's muffled laughter, or see Sora's worried gaze. Walking up to the door, he didn't give Cloud a chance to open it for him, he swung it open and nodded towards the man in recognition, before turning back to make one last statement, "And I won't be marrying some nice and proper lady anytime soon, I'm gay."

Roxas would feel proud of leaving all three of the present Taylor family speechless for now, or, at least, until he reached his room again and realize just what a scene he had made.

Like he said before, his situation here was just getting worse and worse.

Closing the door behind himself, he groaned and collapsed onto the couch, burying his head in his arms. He hated this place so much, he just wanted to leave, he couldn't stand it. No wonder his parents chose to travel around and leave everything behind.

His eyes opened and immediately caught on the photo album still resting on the coffee table, sighing to himself, he picked it up and went to climb on his bed. Moogle sat there staring at him for a moment as he rested his head next to the doll on the pillow, making a sweeter memory of Vidina flash through his mind once again. He wrapped the doll up in one arm and rested the book against the wall his bed was pushed against. Flipping through the first couple pages, he finally came to stop on the page he valued the most.

He was just a small little baby being cradled in his mother's arms, his father with one arm around her and the other arm resting it's hand on Roxas's small chest. It was one of those cheesy pictures, the one where they posed in front of the new home. Even if it were a cheesy photo though, it still brought him comfort when he really needed it, needed a reminder.

Because of the label beneath it, reading: _Family._

* * *

"_And everyone knows I'm in,_

_Over my head, over my head."_


	4. Reprieve

_**I'm so sorry it took so long to update! School kept me busy for awhile, and my Creative Writing class had been sucking up all my creative writing energy. But we just finished our project a little while ago, so I'll have a nice little break before the next one. Oh, and just because I feel like complaining, I love spray-painting and all, but I hate how my arm hurts afterwards. I spray painted a lot a little while ago and now my arm aches! I really wish I had more upper-body strength, I feel so pathetic, haha!**_

_**Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, I'm really sorry about taking so long, and thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your reassurances that you are reading and enjoying the story made me feel so much better! Love all of you!**_

**_Song is "Vitamn R (Leading Us Along)" by Chevelle. I love that band so much!_**

**_

* * *

_**

4 :: Reprieve

* * *

"_Some will learn; many do.  
Cover up or spread it out."_

* * *

Sora could remember one time, when he was very small, maybe five or six, he had Christmas with his parents. He couldn't remember ever seeing them on the holidays, that one time was a fluke and they were only there for about two hours anyways. Now, this didn't mean he became one of those kids that believed they were merely not good enough for their parents to spend time with them, no, that was Axel. Sora knew the truth.

Somehow, he had managed to find the undeniable truth that Axel was too scared to come to terms with. It wasn't that their parents didn't find them worthy of their time, it was something more like they didn't have the time to spend on them even if they were worthy of it. He knew his parents spent their time elsewhere, on other things they found more important than their children.

This didn't mean Sora grew to hate his parents. No, he had no reason to begin to hate parents that he never felt he had in the first place. Besides, he had the servants and Axel anyways. With them around, it was like a family without parents. It was good enough for him, because he knew that he wouldn't get them. It was good enough to him, because there was no other alternative really. It was good enough, because he knew nothing else.

And really, he wondered how good parents could be. Always hugging and kissing their children, only to turn around and scold them until they cried. His servants never made him cry, and Axel would give him hugs all the time. He was happy enough this way.

And then came the day he met Kairi Howards. He hated Kairi with a passion. The redheaded girl was like the embodiment of the word _"loathing"_ to him.

His parents had set up the arranged marriage when he was just four, Kairi and Sora hadn't even ever met, but Sora's parents didn't want him to marry some little gold-digger island girl, and Kairi's parents wanted to make sure she would be happy and comfortable when she grew-up. So they decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Sora really wished he was one of those birds.

So when the engaged couple were both around ten, their parents decided it was time the two should meet. Kairi had been attending some prestigious private academy in some other city while Sora attended the local Destiny Island Private School. So really, the two had no idea the other existed, besides the arranged marriage, that is.

So dinner was planned. And it was there at the dinner table that Sora would understand exactly what he was missing, what other children got and he didn't. Because Kairi's parents loved her. They asked her how her day went, about her friends, wanted to know her opinions and tried to make her happy. And his parents talked about their business and…

No, that was pretty much it, unless you counted a comment or two about the roast.

This isn't what lead to Sora hating Kairi, though, he knew better than to hate someone out of jealousy. He wasn't about to cause that kind of unnecessary suffering.

Actually, it would probably have been when Kairi began to brag about everything she does to his parents that he began to hate her. Mostly because everytime she mentioned another award for her piano playing, or being the top of her class for another year in a row, his parents would look at him like he was some defect. Like there was something wrong with him for not being perfect like her.

He must have been glaring at her, he knew he must have, but she didn't pay it any attention, she just kept going on and on and her parents looked oh-so damn proud. So he did the only thing a kid would find logical at the time. He stood up, pointed at Kairi…

And called her a bitch.

In all honesty, Sora didn't know what that word meant. He only knew two things about it: his parents called people who didn't cooperate with them that, and people who were called as such were greatly disliked.

At first, he had been greatly pleased with the shocked gasp that went around the table, and the tears welling in the little red haired girl's eyes. But when his dad grabbed his arm and began to roughly drag him out of the room, leaving his mom to try and salvage the relationship with the Howards family, he realized another thing about that word.

It was not to be used by Sora because hearing it from the child would look bad for his father and hinder whatever his goal is, and when this happened, Father got angry.

From that day forward, his parents told him over and over again to do his best in school, always be pleasant to people, never associate with the wrong groups, always speak politely, and be, overall, perfect. If he didn't do this, they never went out of their way to hide their disappointment in him.

He didn't want their disappointment, though, he wanted their love. He knew it was a waste of time, he has always known that, but when they are at least looking at him with approval, he can pretend it's love.

So, Sora would like to make it clear why he hated Kairi: his parents.

* * *

"_Turn around, had enough,  
Pick and choose or pass it on."_

* * *

Roxas remembers spending Christmas with his parents when he was a kid. He would wake up in the morning, run to their room, give them quite a rude wake up call, and then they would go down to open presents.

He would remember how excited he would be when he got what he wanted, and how disappointed he would be when he would get something he didn't… like a sweatshirt or something.

They would then go into the kitchen and his parents would make breakfast while he played with one of the new toys at the kitchen table, and they would eat together and talk about Santa and reindeer.

It was his tenth Christmas Roxas would remember the most though, because that year, for Christmas, the only present Santa left for his parents was a single card underneath the tree. At first, Roxas had felt bad and, thinking it would make his parents unhappy that he got so many presents and they only got a measly card, got a pen to scratch out his name on one of his unopened presents and wrote in that it was for them.

They laughed and told him they wanted the one card and not his presents.

When they began eating breakfast, Roxas, still feeling bad, finally asked if the card even came with anything. And it was there that they decided to break the news to him. They wanted to travel again.

The card had tickets to Tanzania.

Roxas remembers not being able to eat after that, asking them if he really had to go with them, how he didn't want to leave Hollow Bastion. He didn't want to leave Hayner, Pence, Olette, Lulu and Wakka. He didn't want to jump from country to country, he didn't want to visit other people's homes and never his own.

They made a deal, one where Roxas would stay in an apartment near Lulu and Wakka, and they would travel, sending him money so he could take care of himself. He swore a small part of him broke somewhere when they agreed to that, that they were perfectly fine with leaving their son alone, countries away, oceans away, and just send him money.

Were they really that sick of him? Was he a bad son or something? They didn't want him?

Then, the first letter came. The money was being wired to him, they had taught him how to wire money for that specific purpose, so he had no idea why they would bother sending him letters. He had ripped it open and dozens of pictures came spilling out, along with a letter that must have been five pages long, at least.

Roxas knew everything about the places his parents had been, the sites they had seen, how they really were still thinking about him, and how they really did still love him…

They were just a bit irresponsible and had a serious travel bug.

So Roxas found he was content enough with that. He knew they would come back some day for him, and he knew they hadn't left because of him. The pictures and letters were all he had of them, and the only things that reminded him of their existence and not just their bank accounts.

Still, he hasn't had a happy Christmas since his ninth.

* * *

"_Buying in, heading for,_

_Suffer now or suffer then."_

* * *

The brunette looked up from his seat, staring at his father as the man paced the length of the room, Sora's mother sat compliantly in the seat next to her son, in front of her husband's desk. They were in the study, or actually Mr. Taylor's study, but the man used it so little that it had never caught on that it actually belonged to him. Sora sometimes used the room to get some quiet time because no one else would bother going near it, besides Aerith who would dust.

The sapphire eyes stared cautiously as the man continued his pacing for another five minutes, no words being spoken, no sound infiltrating their fortress of silence. But the tension was still obvious.

Finally, "Did you know of this?"

Sora flinched at the suddenness of the words, gaze coming in to focus on what he had been watching, "E-Excuse me?"

His father grimaced, walking up behind his desk to look through the paperwork Sora had filled out for their school Roxas had suppose to attend. His eyes had immediately focused on where it asked for the address of his current residency, it listed his home. The man's icy blue eyes flashed with anger, turning back to his son, "Did you know of his… condition?"

Sora wrinkled his nose at his father's choice of terminology, "No sir, but-"

His father immediately retracted from the desk, falling back on his chair, "Then he hid it from us, we can not trust him, he must leave at once. Sora, you will call Mr. Shinra and-"

His mother, for the first time Sora could ever remember in his entire life, interrupted his father, "We can not!"

The man looked to his wife scathingly, obviously angered that he had been interrupted, "And why not, may I ask? We can not house a-a-"

"Homosexual…" Sora finished for him quietly, making the room go silent. A small ball of anger curling in his stomach as his mind screamed at him to say something, anything, to remind the man of his eldest son, a homosexual. But nothing else left his mouth.

Mr. Taylor looked at his son for a moment, then snorted, "Yes, we can not risk our reputation by housing him. Do you realize what would be said about us?"

Mrs. Taylor violently shook her head, "Dear, just imagine what would be said about us for turning out the boy **because** he is a homosexual."

"We'll say that he was a liar and a thief, no one will doubt it, he lived in Hollow Bastion, after all," He shrugged, seeming to have made up his mind.

She sighed, frowning deeply, "It won't be that simple, you and I both know that, they won't pay any mind to the reasonable, they will only see the scandalous. And for such upstanding people to be homophobic would cause quite an uproar-"

"Fine! Then what, please tell me, do you suggest we do?" Mr. Taylor snapped, slamming his fists on the desk in his anger.

His mother said nothing else, making Sora shift uncomfortably in his seat. If this went on and his father got his way, like he usually would, then Roxas would soon be thrown out of their house, he would be homeless. Sora didn't know if he could deal with the guilt of turning someone out onto the street like that, Roxas certainly wouldn't be able to get back to Hollow Bastion either, he definitely didn't look like he had the money.

He had to say something, he couldn't just let his father kick Roxas out, "Let him stay, don't send him to school, no one has to know about him."

The room was silent as his father gave him a hard stare, making him want to squirm under the stare, but knowing he wouldn't take him seriously if he did such. His mother remained quiet as her son continued, "Then you won't be accused of throwing out a child because he is a homosexual, and no one will know about him because he won't be going to the school, and you can just tell Mr. Shinra that Roxas doesn't want to enroll in this school because of his grades, because his grades aren't actually all that great-"

"Fine," Sora released the breath he had been holding, relief rushing through his veins and relaxing his body slightly at his father's words. He looked up to see the man back to pacing, now running a hand through his hair, "But he is not to go out to any popular stores or anything, and never let him go out alone, I do not want him meeting anyone important. And actually, only go out at night, he is allowed out during the day as long as he stays on our property but, if and when we have guests, he is to stay in his room, like Axel."

Sora bit his lip from saying anything else, just nodding and breathing silently in relief that at the very least, Roxas wasn't homeless.

His father finished, basically saying that they were to pretend Roxas did not exist, to only leave in case of an emergency, and even then, only go out at night because he did not want anyone to know about the boy. He also said to make sure not even his friends knew about Roxas, because they would tell others.

Part of Sora was angry, he would admit that much, but at the same time, he wouldn't say anything. His father owned this house, owned him, and was the only thing keeping Roxas from having to sleep on the streets until either his uncle found him or he managed to get enough money to go back to Hollow Bastion. Even though Sora hadn't known the guy for long, he still couldn't let that happen.

His father told him to go make Roxas aware of everything, leaving Sora to stand outside the door of his study for a few moments. Listening to the clock tick away time, part of his mind wondering if he could just sit and stare off into space until he died. Would anyone come to check on him before he could? Maybe he could just disperse into space, become nothing and everything, leave his body and never have to return to any of this.

That sounded much better.

* * *

"_Cause he's alone (he has become)  
He's alone (he has become)."_

* * *

Roxas had shaded most of the picture by now, making it seem even darker than it had been originally been. And it had been drawn with a shading pencil, so it was pretty dark to begin with. But it was alright, he was just shading because he was relieving anger, and the picture looked better the darker it was, anyways.

A light knock came to his door, making him shout something that sounded faintly like a "come in," then returned all his focus back to the picture in his lap. Axel stepped in with a raised eyebrow, spying the short blonde on his bed, back pressed against the wall next to the window, sketchbook in his lap with his knees slightly drawn up, and a scowl set firmly as he madly scribbled the pencil over the paper.

The redhead found it a slightly amusing scene, more amusing if it were not for the fact that the blonde was obviously upset about something. Walking further in, he took a quick glance around the room to try and see the boy's personal belongings for some more personal insight. All he saw was the photo album, skateboard, and bag full of art supplies. Looking back to the bed, he sighed and walked over, leaning against the window at the end of the blonde's bed, only about a foot away from the teen.

The silence stretched on as Roxas just seemed to ignore him for taking his frustration out on the paper and pencil, leaving Axel to just stare at him curiously. The redhead noticed the strange doll now, sitting squished between the bottom of the sketchpad and the blonde's stomach. It looked like a very uncomfortable position, but he still found it cute the kid would still have a doll.

Another couple moments and the redhead decided to see if the blonde was just scribbling, or actually drawing a picture. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a very dark looking city with concrete buildings and streets, neon signs were the only source of light in the place, and the rain blurred the entire setting. A lone skyscraper stood in the middle, with giant TV's resting at the top of it, on the screen flickered some images that held too much static to be identified. It was a chilling scene, there was no doubt about that. Part of the redhead was slightly disturbed the blonde would be able to draw something that, while didn't have any one particular thing that stood out to identify it as such, was so… creepy.

When he had finally finished looking it over, he realized Roxas had stopped shading to stare down at the paper angrily, like he was blaming all his woes on the poor thing. Axel hoped that the ceasing of the shading meant, despite the glaring instead, that Roxas would talk or do something else or at least acknowledge Axel's existence. Unfortunately for him, though, Roxas just continued to glare, seeming to have zoned out, for the next ten minutes.

Finally, Axel had enough. He grabbed the sketchbook from the teen's hands, making the blonde cry out in shock and indignation before he turned his glare onto the redhead instead, "Give it back."

Axel smirked, happy that, while he wasn't in a very pleasant mood, Roxas had finally responded to his presence, "Make me."

The blonde snarled and jumped off the bed, walking up to the taller teen. He glared at him for another moment before looked down, almost meekly. Axel raised an eyebrow at the change of attitude, beginning to wonder if maybe the kid was bipolar or something. Then his arms were suddenly thrown around his waist, making Axel jump and stare in shock as the blonde began to shake.

Oh god, Roxas was gonna cry! What was he gonna do? Axel couldn't handle tears! Sora barely ever cried! Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, don't cry, don't cry!

Hesitantly, the redhead lowered his arms around the younger's shoulders, still uneasy about the entire situation. Small, little, hopefully reassuring muttering slipped past his lips as he tried to keep the boy from crying. Only half of him was wondering why the kid was about to cry, the other half just wanted to get the fuck out of there before the waterworks actually started.

At the moment, the other half was winning.

As Axel became more and more uneasy with the awkwardness of his lack of skills at consoling someone, he was nearly relieved when the blonde just suddenly snatched the book back out of his hands, sniffed and glared at him again, then returned to his bed and his weird doll.

Axel scowled at him, but couldn't help but feel relief that the blonde wasn't really about to cry, plus he was a little impressed with is acting skills. Just as he was about to break the silence once again, then teen threw the items in his lap onto the bed. He stormed over to the sofa and violently tugged his shoes on before snatching up his skateboard and camera.

Axel thought he heard an apology come from the teen, but he couldn't be sure, as it also sounded like he said he needed pineapple sauce… Okay, so it was more likely an apology. Not that it really mattered in the end, though, as he still stormed out of the room before Axel could reply anyways.

The redhead was left staring at the door dumbly, confusion written over his face from the way the kid had been acting. It didn't make sense, there was no reason for him to act in such a way.

His mouth suddenly dropped open as a thought struck him: Sora had made sure Roxas would have breakfast with their parents. He groaned to himself, biting his lip in irritation at imagining what could have gone down to make the blonde so upset.

Thankfully, though, his thoughts were interrupted as another knock was at the door, making Axel stare at it and wonder if he should answer it or not. Because, well, it wasn't his room, and the owner of the room wasn't around, and it would probably raise a few questions, but, at the same time, he wondered if it was really important, and he could also tell them that Roxas had just left.

He blinked as a few more urgent knocks came, making him shrug and quickly run over to throw the door open. Sora stared up at him in surprise for a moment or two, then frowned, "Axel? Where is Roxas? Why are you here?"

Green eyes narrowed as he turned his gaze to the floor, "He ran out of here, looked pissed. What did they do now?"

Sora frowned at his question, knowing he meant their parents, "Roxas-he, um, I will tell you later. Where did he go?"

Axel stared at the brunette suspiciously, then scowled, feeling his anger boil up in him. Was it really that bad? Were his parents just cruel people, or just bad at being human? The redhead shrugged roughly and quickly squeezed past his brother, stalking down the hallway, "Took his board and camera and left, dunno where he went."

Sora stared after him in annoyance for a couple seconds, wondering why Axel was so angry now. Today was just not a good day, too many angry people. And now Sora would have to run all around town to find Roxas and make sure he didn't make it public knowledge that he lived with the Taylors and was gay, or he may find the blonde homeless.

Oh, God…

The brunette felt panic rise in his chest, making him run to the front door, yelling that he was going "out," to anyone who would hear and be concerned.

* * *

"_The hassle of all the screaming fits,  
That panic makes remorse."_

* * *

Axel had had enough, he threw open the doors to his father's study, anger raging through him, feeling like flames were sweeping through his veins upon the sight of the man behind the desk. Mr. Taylor glared up at his son, obviously disgruntled that there would be a confrontation already. He preferred to avoid his eldest, he didn't exactly enjoy arguing with him.

How would you like to be reminded of a mistake over and over again? Clearly, they had done something wrong with the first son, and the enraged teen that was standing in the doorway, glaring at him, was the byproduct of that mistake. He didn't want this teen, he wanted the child that tried so hard at everything he did, who didn't start trouble, who did the smart and responsible thing, who would outshine all the other sons and daughters.

This one, he was not so proud of. He didn't know what he had done wrong to make this happen, but clearly something happened. It was only because he was, technically, his son, that he kept the guy around. Otherwise, Axel wouldn't be a person he allowed into his life.

His patience was running thin, though, as Axel was causing him more and more headaches than usual, and causing more and more trouble than before. He was reaching the end of his rope…

And Axel couldn't have known what would happen this time, with this argument, with this one last fight. He didn't read the future, anyone else who was in their positions may have been able to predict the ending result, but neither of them had thought it would come down to it.

All because of Roxas, when he would find out about it, though, he would just feel miserable again. He would wish even more that he had never come here, that he never met these people. For now, though, he was living in the bliss of just being pissed at himself, and the Taylors, and most of the human race.

He was on his board, practically flying down the sidewalk, thankful that the neighborhood was so rich that there were no cracks, not even dirt on the concrete. It was easy riding, although, slightly boring in that aspect. But it didn't matter, his thoughts were so muddled, so angry, that he wouldn't be able to focus either way.

He had never felt angry when people said anything about his future, or his sexual orientation for that matter, but maybe it was because they had been so damn insistent, and wouldn't let him just shrug it off, then to turn around and tell him he didn't know what he was doing, that he would have to do this because it was right.

What did they know what was right? They had one child who clearly hated them quite a bit, and another who was being suffocated with their expectations. Really, maybe they should have listened to him a bit more, his life will at least lead him to being happy.

The sun was high in the sky, making him assume it was probably around noon, sweat was beading on the back of his neck and slowly dripping down from his hairline. He was thankful he decided to wear a tank top, or else he would have been dying at the moment. Finally coming out of his thoughts, he took in his surroundings and confirmed his suspicions that he had no idea where he was.

Sighing to himself, he patted down his pockets, he had some money, not a lot, but the left over from his last paycheck from Lulu. He spotted a quant little restaurant just down the street. He aimed his board in the direction, ignoring the disgruntled looks of the rich people as they dodged him, he honestly gained a bit of pleasure from their disapproving and angry glares.

He kicked the board up and pushed into the restaurant, sighing in relief as the AC ran over his damp skin. Did he remember to put on deodorant? Let's hope so…

He glanced around the place to see there were only a few customers, all of which staring at him either like he was a disgusting bug, or like he was a rare species of human that should be studied.

The latter disturbed him more than the former.

He just looked at the floor and hopped up on the seat in front of the counter, a bubbly blonde waitress smiled at him, a curious look in her eyes as she handed him a menu. He leaned his board against the chair, hooking one set of wheels on one of the wooden supports on the legs to keep it from falling and drawing more attention to him.

If that was possible. What, had they never seen a slightly low-middle-class kid before?

The waitress smiled excitedly, "I'm Rikku, you new here?"

Roxas just nodded, eyes widening as he looked over the menu. It was… whoa… that's a lot of money… "Um, name's Roxas, from Bastion."

Rikku's eyes widened, "_Hollow Bastion?"_

Roxas rolled his eyes at her shocked expression, but nodded to confirm her outburst. Well, at least the people stopped staring at him, now they were whispering and pointing instead, lovely. This girl wreaked subtly, _obviously_, Roxas should've just seen that coming with his luck going the way it was today.

A moment of silence passed over as Roxas could see the millions of questions running through her mind, like she was just trying to pick which one to spout first, "Well, I would ask you if you knew my friend there, but you probably don't. Hollow Bastion is such a big city…" Roxas just nodded and pulled out his wallet. It was well worn, "pleather," old but not completely falling apart just yet, and he wouldn't buy a new one until it was completely decrepit. He counted ten bucks.

Another glance at the menu and he confirmed that he would only have enough to get some toast and orange juice, maybe bargain for some eggs if this girl was anything like Bastion girls. A glance at her, and he thought he wouldn't get that bargain, but, hell, he could try anyways.

"Hey, you know, you remind me a lot of-"

"You're not getting anything free."

Roxas cursed under his breath and pouted slightly, "Whatever, toast and OJ, please," Rikku giggled slightly and turned to shout into the kitchen.

"Toast!" She quickly grabbed a glass from under the counter and turned around to a fridge, she grabbed a pitcher and poured some in the glass, handing it to the blonde who quickly gulped down half the glass.

Her eyes glittered with obvious curiosity, "So, what is a boy from Hollow Bastion doing on Destiny Islands?"

Roxas sighed as he realized he would be sucked into some small talk, or maybe she was planning to chat him up. Roxas had heard from Rai one time, that rich girls got some thrill from flirting with poor guys who seemed dangerous. Or something like that, it didn't make sense to Roxas, and he didn't think he appeared dangerous enough for that, but, hell, for all he knew, these rich girls could find him the epitome of risk.

Oh, yuck…

"I'm gay."

Rikku's eyebrows shot up, but then narrowed in confusion, "You're here because you're gay?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, wondering if he should clarify what he had meant, but shrugged it off, "No, I'm poor and my rich uncle thought making me live here would be a good idea. Do truckers go through here often?"

Rikku snorted, making it obvious that what he said was ridiculous. Whether it be his question or what he said about his uncle, but he took it to mean both. A bell rang and she ran to the window and back with his toast. His stomach grumbled and he looked down at it pitifully. It was obvious that it didn't matter if he was only lower-middle class. Here, he may as well be dirt poor.

He sighed and doomed himself to nibbling on the pieces, hoping that maybe taking longer would make it seem like more food. Suddenly, the seat next to him was occupied, and then the other one quickly filled also. He glanced on both sides, wondering if maybe some rich guys were planning to throw him out of town when he saw they were definitely not some tough, rich guys.

Petite, beautiful, and pleasantly smiling teen girls were definitely not the rich assholes he had imagined, but you never know…. Or they could be planning to chat him up, too… Was Roxas being vain thinking that?

"Hello, my name is Kairi Howards, and this is my little sister, Naminé, may we ask who you are?" Roxas nearly snorted at her overly polite tone, but he thought spraying toast crumbs over a pretty, rich girl would most likely be a bad plan.

"Roxas Casey."

Kairi looked enthralled, "Where are you from?" She probably knew, Rikku hadn't exactly been quiet about it earlier, but he found it amusing that she was attempting to seem like she hadn't been eavesdropping like everyone else.

"Bastion."

"Really? Hollow Bastion?" Roxas nodded, wondering why people kept asking him that. He didn't think there was any other city named "Bastion," it wasn't exactly the ideal name for a place.

Naminé finally decided to speak up, "Do you know Vaan and Penelo Ratsbane?"

Roxas' mind instantly flashed an image of two teens in his class, the last time he had seen them… it had probably been about two or three months ago. He had bought a pair of shorts from the store they both worked at, their adoptive father, Migello, owned the place. He nodded to the blonde, making her smile, "How are they? We are related, somewhat. Through marriage."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Fine, last time I checked. How are you related?"

Kairi spoke up again, sheepish smile on her face, "Our aunt had married their father, after he had divorced their mother. We do not see them very much, though, as our mother…"

Roxas nodded, "I get it," He easily brushed it off, like it wasn't a big deal that their mother thought she was too good for Vaan and Penelo. He remembered them from school, he had never been very close to them, but he knew they were good kids, they helped out others even when it put them in a less than desirable situation, "Their birth parents are dead, they were adopted by their father's friend, Migello. Last I heard, though, your aunt bailed on them."

The girls looked shocked, Kairi shot out of her seat, "What?! She-They are alone?!" Roxas shook his head slowly, narrowing his eyes at her reaction. Had she really not known? She seemed to suddenly remember about Migello, and then slowly moved back into her seat, "If-If it is not too much trouble, could you give us a number to contact them by?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, then smirked, "What do you plan to do? Your mother ain't gonna do anything, is she?"

Kairi scowled at him, suddenly looking upset, "Do not make judgments on us based off of our mother's actions. I would think the fact that we are at least making an attempt to get in contact with them would be enough proof that-"

Roxas shook his head quickly and sighed, "Fine, okay," He was getting a headache from this, he just wanted to be left alone, is it really too much to ask for? "You got a pen, I'll write it down for ya."

Kairi shook her head and pulled out an expensive looking phone, making a twinge of jealousy run through Roxas. Of course she would have a cell, she could afford one. Roxas wouldn't be able to even hope to get one of those. He gently took it from her and poked the buttons gently, watching the numbers appear on the screen. Thinking back for a moment, it had been quite awhile since he last called Migello's place, but he was pretty sure that was the number.

He pressed send, and cautiously held it up to his ear. Naminé and Kairi were staring at him intently, making the blonde shift uncomfortably and turn around in his seat. He leaned against the counter and stared out the glass front door. From the corner of his vision, he could still see them staring at him, and he could also spy every other person in the place gawking like he was a freaking movie star, only with a lot less money.

Rikku was waving enthusiastically from a table she was busing, making Roxas frown but nod at her nonetheless. Finally, the ringing in his ear stopped, and he desperately hoped that he had been sent to voice mail… Unfortunately, Migello's voice was there.

"_Migello's-"_

"Hey, it's Rox," Naminé and Kairi looked excited as he spoke, he ignored them, "Is Vaan or Penelo around?"

Migello muttered something, then shouted for the teens, making Roxas wince and pull the cell away from his ear for a second. He quickly brought it back up as he heard Migello speaking, _"Roxas, lad, where have ya been? Haven't seen ya in months, wondering if ya got hit by a truck or somethin'."_

Roxas cleared his throat to hide a chuckle, Migello had a bit of a morbid sense of humor, "Nah, I'm alive, and I wasn't hit by anything." Naminé looked surprised but continued being quiet, Kairi had, thankfully, moved out of his line of vision, though, "Are they there?"

"_Yeah, yeah-VAAN! PENELO! PHONE!-They're slow as usual, lazing about like-"_

"_What?! We're not 'lazing' anything! We're working our asses off for ya, you old-"_

"_Who is on the phone for us? Migello? Vaan! Shut up! Who's on the phone?"_

Roxas sighed as what seemed to be a fight started to ensue, thankfully, Penelo had somehow managed to snag the phone before it became too long, _"Hi! Who's this?"_

"Pen, it's Rox," He relaxed a bit, happy that it was her who got the phone, Vaan was easily angered, and distracted. Not that he didn't like the guy, it was just hard to talk with him on the phone, Penelo was much more affable.

"_Rox! Oh my God! Where did you go?"_

Roxas smiled bitterly, "Destiny Islands, I'll explain some other time, or, better yet, ask Hay, 'Let, or Pence. They know what's goin' on."

"_Are you serious?! Um, yeah, yeah, I'll ask 'em, but you gotta call again soon! I can't believe it, you're seriously there? Get me something, like a keychain, if you got the money!"_

Roxas didn't try to suppress the chuckle this time, Naminé seemed surprised, but Kairi had entered back into his vision, and she just seemed impatient, "Listen, Pen, I'm using someone's cell, she wants to talk to you, 'k?"He handed the small machine over before he could get a reply.

Kairi quickly snatched it up, bringing it to her ear as Roxas turned to look at Naminé. The blonde girl was just smiling at him, but this time it seemed sincere, "Thank you, really. We felt guilty for not being able to get in touch with them."

Roxas shrugged, and turned to his toast, he sighed and began nibbling once more, "I guess. But what do you think you can do?"

She frowned for a moment, "I do not know, but that is not the point. The **least** we can do is try and reach them. If they even want our help, then we will try our best to help them. We are family."

Roxas flinched at the word, gaze flying to Naminé's as she smiled at him. Family seemed like such a complicated word, all of a sudden, after seeing so many of them, and for them all to be so different. His real parents left, he was forced away from his adopted one for awhile, the Taylor's less-than-perfect situation, Kairi and Naminé's snobbish mother and flaky aunt, and Vaan and Penelo's loss of their parents and adoption of Migello.

What did the word even mean anymore? What kind of explanation could it provide? And yet, was he not the one who, just last night, curled up with a photo he titled just that? How could something that was so reassuring, so meaningful one night, seem so confusing the next day?

His headache returned and he just shoved the last two pieces of toast in his mouth, then washed it down with the remaining orange juice. Naminé wrinkled her nose in distaste but didn't comment, though a gentle smile came onto her face when his stomach grumbled, "Could you stay and eat lunch with us?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at her offer, but shrugged, "Can't, I don't have any money left… thanks for the offer, though, I guess."

"We will pay, please?" Naminé, believe it or not, seemed sincere. It didn't make sense to Roxas, why she would want them to eat together…

Maybe she was one of the "dangerous guys equals thrill" girls?

"I'm gay."

"Me, too, Kairi's straight, though, the loser," She laughed lightly, making Roxas smile slightly, then shrug.

"Sure, I'd like to eat with you."

By the time he reached the Taylor's home once again, it was dark, and he was a bit creeped out by how quiet the entire house seemed. It was only ten at night, was everyone really in bed already? Either way, he snuck back to his room as quietly as he could, just being thankful Kairi and Naminé had told him how to get to his street again, or else he would be wandering around, lost and without a clue. He would have to be more careful of wandering the streets when angry.

Dinner with those girls had been interesting. They weren't typical rich girls, or maybe they were and Roxas just didn't know many rich girls. Basically, what he was trying to say was that they weren't snobbish, narcissistic, ditzy, fashion-monkeys. Naminé was actually quite artistic, and she liked many of the same artists as him, and Kairi was really smart, she planned to go to college for computer programming or something like that.

Yes, they did think about fashion, but were not obsessed over it, and they weren't that stuck-up. They were a bit, just a little bit, but only when it came to alcoholic or drug-addicted hobos, so Roxas figured it wasn't too bad. They had big hearts, really, mostly to people who hadn't doomed themselves, though.

Granted, he thought it was a bit heartless they didn't believe in giving second chances, but Kairi had said there is only one chance in life.

Finally inside his room, the first thing he did was change into his shorts and tank top for sleeping. Gently, he tugged a photo out of his pocket and smiled when looking at it. He had taken their picture when they had been debating something about the mayor's new ideas to update the playground. Naminé said they would be making it safer, so less kids would get hurt, and plus it was getting a little old, but Kairi thought life involved those risks, wealthy kids shouldn't be coddled as much as they were already, and the money should be spent on something better. Like maybe a nice orphanage so that other class ranges could be introduced to their islands.

Despite himself, he had found their presence to be quite nice, he had actually enjoyed talking to them. And they were fun to be around to, he smiled fondly as he pulled the other pictures out. Kairi and Naminé had jumped to snatch away the camera when they realized he took their picture, and he had taken pictures of their futile attempts to the reach across the table for the camera.

Walking to the photo album, he found another new page and slipped the photos in, like a mini-collage of the same two girls in different poses. He pulled out his pen and thought back to the last thing they had said to him before he left.

They had invited him to hang out with them again, to come to their house tomorrow so they could swim in their pool or something. A nice break from being cooped up in the Taylor's mansion all day.

A smirk came to his features as he leaned over the album, on the label beneath the pictures, he wrote: _Reprieve._

* * *

"_It's typical - create a world,  
A special place of my design."_


	5. Caged

_**Sorry, this one is shorter than usual, but, hey, at least it didn't take me a month again, or something like that. And, yeah, I hear you guys on the lack of Sora/Roxas, I know, I'm getting there. It should be appearant in this chapter that there is something between the two. And, by the way, I hope you guys like Seifer/Hayner. I'm also considering adding some Demyx/Zexion, but it all depends how the story writes itself from here on. I may or may not write more from Axel's view, and if I do then I'll add Demyx/Zexion.**_

**_The song is "Fairytale" by Saturday Night At The Apollo. I hope you guys like this chapter, and thanks for all the reviews! Love you guys!_**

* * *

**_5 :: Caged_**

* * *

"_Take a breath of the heavy air,_

"_And try my best to just pretend there's no one there."_

* * *

Seifer was glaring at him again, Hayner could _feel_ it, but he would be damned if he got up and did anything about it. That would be submitting, it would be admitting that Seifer got to him, that he was affected by the idiotic-ape-wannabe-gangster-man. So he just continued to eat his hamburger with a force that could be, and was, mistaken for violence.

Olette and Pence had concern clearly painted onto their faces, worried that Roxas' absence from their group would cause Seifer and Hayner to begin to be at each other throats even more, with threats of dancing on each other's grave. And they were correct to be concerned. So far, they had already gotten into two physical fights, and it had only been a couple days.

Olette winced when she thought for how long Roxas may be gone. A week? A month? A year? All were much too long to be soon enough.

Pence was attempting to ignore the situation, like maybe if he pretended that Seifer wasn't sitting in the booth behind Hayner, glaring at the back of his head, then maybe he really would just disappear. A quick glance up told him he was out of luck, though.

Rai and Fuu shifted in their seat uncomfortably, waiting for the first person to explode. They thought it would be Hayner, any second now. But Fuu was surprised, the guy was holding in his temper more than usual, and better than he had in years. Rai just thought maybe he hadn't noticed yet.

The Neanderthal turned around and knocked the blonde on the back of the head, quickly facing forward again before Hayner spun around and glared at Seifer, "WHAT the HELL?!"

Seifer burst out laughing, clearly, Hayner thought, mocking him. He wasn't about to just put up with that. He threw himself out of his seat and grabbed his coke, throwing it over the beanie-wearing teen's head. Seifer looked murderous, but Hayner was just taking the moment in basking in the glory of getting to the guy.

Then Seifer tackled him to the ground and another fight ensued. Olette noted with some interest that, this time, Roxas was not mentioned once. She shrugged it off, though. Instead, she worked on eating as much of her food as she could before the manager of the restaurant came and kicked all of them out because of the guys who couldn't keep their anger and libidos in check.

Sure enough, the manager showed in less than a couple minutes, anger written across his face, he looked like he was going to shoot lasers from his eyes and fry them all. Hey, maybe he was, Pence thought, it would explain why the food tasted like crap. The man had super-deep-frying vision, and their food was really his victims.

… Okay, so someone needs to read less comic books.

They were all kicked out, parting sentences from the manager being, "Fight somewhere off my property!"

Olette sighed to herself and looked to Rai and Fuu, the two looked clueless about what to do. Seifer and Hayner were clearly about ready to do something dumber than usual, and this was the fifth restaurant they were kicked out of because of their fighting in the past two months. They were kicked out of a different one yesterday, and this one today. Clearly, Roxas' absence was the cause of a rise in hostility, but not the reason to blame.

Over the past year, the two have been able to deal with each other less and less. Sure, they never got along as kids, so she had just assumed that was the same when they became teens. But then there was the year when they mostly just ignored each other. And then, around the same time Hayner told her that he had a crush on Roxas, Seifer became friends with Roxas.

Well, Hayner insisted the reason he hated Seifer was because he wanted Roxas, but he put up with him because Roxas was friends with him. Although, looking back, they never were as bad as they were now.

Maybe they just couldn't do it anymore? It just didn't seem that was all, it just didn't seem like the full story, but Olette, honestly, was afraid to ask. With Roxas gone, their proverbial glue was missing too, and she was afraid her questioning would make Hayner angry with her, too.

She had to keep her, Hayner and Pence together, at least. Roxas had enough to deal with as it was.

Hayner and Seifer were still glaring at each other, not moving. A bruise was forming on Hayner's cheek, but Seifer's lip was clearly swelling. Tense, awkward moments passed, neither moved. Then a strange flicker went through Seifer's gaze, and Hayner felt his chest constrict for a moment. His breath caught, and his glare dropped.

Then they were back to glaring, just as quickly, Seifer turned on his heel, stalking down the street angrily, leaving Fuu and Rai to trail after him obediently. Hayner huffed, crossing his arms behind his head and began heading in the opposite direction, gaze hard as it focused on the different cracks in the sidewalk.

The air was changed, it was still tense, but it had become heavy, it had become… Something had just happened, those two had just done something. Maybe they hadn't done anything physically, or even verbally, but for a moment, just that single moment, everything had changed.

Olette stared at Hayner with even more concern now, wonder just what that "everything" was.

* * *

"_I took a chance,_

_And I'll try my best to blow it."_

* * *

Sora grumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair. He spent half the night trying to find Roxas, but he came up with nothing, except for that ditz, Rikku, said that she saw him eat with Kairi and Naminé. Now that was impossible, Kairi is a bitch, she would never eat with a poor person, he knew this had to be true, so that meant Rikku was a dumbass who wouldn't be able to see a serial killer if he was standing in front of her with a knife.

This also meant that Sora didn't get any sleep last night and was extremely tired, angry, and scared. He desperately hoped that Roxas didn't do anything his father told him to make sure Roxas didn't do. Or else… Well, Sora may just cry.

Running up to the blonde's room, he began pounding on the door, crossing his arms impatiently as he waited for an answer. After about a minute, he began banging on it again, he knew it was early, he knew the guy was probably sleeping, he knew he probably woke up Reno and Riku, but he didn't particularly care. This was for the sake of Roxas not becoming homeless.

The door swung open to display a very disheveled blonde, he obviously was too tired from his tramping around last night to have changed out of his clothes. Little did Sora know, Roxas had been eating with Kairi and Naminé, and had fallen asleep on the couch in his room after looking through his photo album.

The brunette pushed him back into the room, and then quickly shut the door behind them, "Where were you?! Never leave this house again! You have to stay inside, unless, of course, I or Axel accompany you, but you can not just run out randomly! You did not talk to anyone, did you? Please, tell me you did not meet anyone!"

Roxas blinked slowly, brain running a bit slow at the moment, having just woken up. He took in the bags under Sora's eyes, and then remembered something. Don't they have school or something? Isn't it Monday?

His eyes widened slightly, "Crap! We have school!" Sora flinched at the suddenness of the shout, and then stared as Roxas began looking around the room in slight panic, checking the clock to see that it was an hour before school started.

"You are not going."

Roxas froze and stared back at him, "Huh?"

Sora frowned to himself, feeling his stomach turn as he knew he had to explain to Roxas his new imprisonment, "My father does not wish for you to leave this house, unless at night with Axel or I. You may go anywhere you wish on our property, but you may not leave. Do not talk to anyone outside, do not answer the phone, and when we have guests, you must stay in your room and out of sight. If you ever come across anyone outside, do not tell them you are associated with our family-"

Roxas' jaw had dropped, "Are you serious?"

Sora gulped, and looked down, ashamed, "Yes, I'm sorry. But he would have kicked you out otherwise, and I-"

"I'm not allowed to leave? Being kicked out would have been better! At least then I could go home! But now I'm trapped here?!" Sora flinched as Roxas yelled, walking over to his bed and throwing himself on top.

His sketchbook and Vida's Moogle fell off, but Roxas only reached back down for Moogle. He held the doll in front of him and gave it a searching gaze, Sora watching him nervously from across the room. Biting his lip, he felt like his heart just plummeted into his intestines, bypassing the stomach completely.

Sora's gaze was fighting to break away from Roxas' face, from watching the lightning that traveled through the teen's eyes and express the amount of anger he felt. In the sunlight, on the bed, his golden hair seemed to glow slightly, and Sora suddenly had a bad taste in his mouth, the kind of taste that he recognized as guilt.

He caged him.

The brunette gulped, the back of his eyes felt a sharp prick, but he ignored it, much too used to suppressing tears from his resolution to not cry in front of his parents. They found it to be wrong to show weakness or vulnerability in front of others, of course. Typical of their personalities, was it not?

Would Roxas cry in front of him?

Roxas was much different than his parents, much different than the other people at school. But then again, Roxas wasn't rich, so maybe that was why? How does that work? Money determines everything about you? It doesn't make sense, but it does in a certain way. Roxas was free for most of his life because he didn't have money, but Sora had money so he was caged.

And now that Roxas was living with the rich, he was being caged just like them, and Sora had the honors of locking the cell's bars right in front of the blonde.

Why was it him who had to do this? Why couldn't his father have stuck around and carry out the sentence he ordered the blonde? Why was it that Sora had to do this for them? Be the bad guy when he tried to be the good guy?

Looking up, Sora childishly hoped that the look in his eyes would convey the message, "It was my father, not me," but Roxas wasn't even looking at him. The blonde had dragged the doll towards himself, burying his face into the small thing. A small part of Sora's heart would remember the scene forever, finding it much too painful to forget, with the other parts all did a flip at the sight of the other teen being so…

He gulped, shifting from foot to foot, and worried his lip, "You… I will take you out at night? Often, I swear it."

Roxas rolled over, facing Sora with a scathing gaze, "I wanna talk to my uncle."

Sora looked down in shame once again, "My father asked for me not to allow you-"

Roxas sat up, anger clear, "He can't do that! You're making me a hostage! It's against the law!"

"You would be homeless otherwise!"

"I would rather be homeless!"

Sora brought his hands up to his forehead, internally whining to himself on how he had gotten into this situation, "I am sorry, I really am. But…"

Roxas glared, "But-what?"

Sora turned to walk out the door, muttering another apology as he gently shut it behind him. Leaving Roxas to just glare after him.

He understood what had happened, he understood it was probably Sora's father who made this decision, but…

He was so angry, so frustrated, so… ready to cry. He threw his face back into Moogle's stomach, choking down a weak sound from his throat.

He knew it was wrong to take this out on Sora, he knew Sora didn't want to make him upset, he could tell just by looking at the guy that he wasn't that type of person. But he needed to get this anger out, he needed to blame someone, he needed…

He needed to talk to someone, he needed to get this out, to just let it all vent out.

Where could he do that though? He can't call back home. What would they say? Hayner and Seifer would probably freak out and it would just cause more issues. And it's not like he had anywhere to go here…

He jumped out of bed and ran to his closet, throwing off his clothes to quickly re-dress, then searched the floor for where he had dumped his shoes. Finding them under the coach, he pulled them on and grabbed his skateboard.

Kairi and Naminé had invited him over yesterday, and even though he guessed they would be going to school now, maybe he could just wait around for them or something? Hopefully, he would catch them before they left…

* * *

"_Shut them out again, and I'm trying not to miss you,_

"_I'm busy looking for another place to run to."_

* * *

Axel shoved the last couple shirts into his bag, staring around the room with a blank expression. He had fond memories of this room, but he couldn't call it home. He didn't get the feeling people would call "home" whenever he walked in, if anything, he felt like he had to leave as soon as possible.

Throwing his door open, he stalked out, nodding to Cloud as he passed him in the hall. The blonde looked up in surprise, halting in silence as he stared after the redhead. Axel didn't stop as Cloud watched him stomp down the stairs, anger clear in his body movements. Sora rounded the corner, his eyes flooded with some painful emotion only to widen in surprise at seeing Axel.

"Axel? Axe! Where are you going?"

The redhead didn't stop, "Demyx's! Tell Dad I'm not coming back! That bastard won't have to worry about my mouth anymore, alright?"

Sora's eyes were widened to an impossible size, making Cloud wince at the sight of the clear heartbreak they unveiled, "What? You-You are leaving? Axel! Why? What happened! Wait a second!"

The redhead didn't reply, sweeping out the front door with surprising grace for the amount of anger his steps held, he was down the front steps in seconds, taking them two at a time. Marching towards his car parked on the side of the house with the others, in a garage.

He knew what he was doing. His father had made it obvious what he wanted last night, and who was Axel to get in his way? If that guy wanted to rot from the inside out, if he wanted Axel to get out of his way, if he wanted to destroy his life by destroying his family's, then Axel would do the only thing he could.

He would back off. Who was he to interfere? He wasn't really even part of the family anyways, no one identified him as being a Taylor anymore, they just called him Axel.

Sora wouldn't be taken down though, he wouldn't let that man destroy Sora's life, Axel just had to wait a little while, and then he could take his brother away from those people. He wouldn't be able to deal with himself if Sora turned out like him, the brunette was too good of a person.

He would come back for Sora soon, he just had to make a couple of arrangements first.

As for that Roxas kid, he wants to go home anyways. Maybe Axel could get enough money to send him back, tickets back to Hollow Bastion were pretty cheap anyways.

On the other side of the mansion, Roxas heard the yelling in the foyer, but couldn't quite make it out. Didn't matter, it just provided a good distraction for him to sneak out. He slipped through the back door, jogging down the patio and into the garden. There was probably a fence in the back he could jump, and then he could skate to Kairi and Naminé's house.

Well into the forest-like garden, Roxas found himself quite lost for a couple minutes. Luckily, he was able to spot the fence by the glimmer of sunlight that bounced off it. He ran up to it and looked up.

It stretched up quite a bit, there was no way he could climb it, he didn't have that kind of upper-body strength, as much as he hates to admit it. But maybe he could climb a tree and get over?

There was a tree just a couple feet away, making Roxas run over to it, he slipped his skateboard through two of the iron bars and began wrapping his arms around one of the branches. Pulling himself up, he began climbing on top of the branch. He could feel his heart pounding sharply against his chest, a slight fear of falling creeping into his nerves.

There was nothing to worry about, though, he took the branches slowly and soon found himself sitting on top of the fence, looking down and wondering if it was really a smart idea to do this. Sora did say, after all, that he wasn't allowed to leave. True, Roxas hated such a rule, but he didn't want Sora to get in trouble for something he did.

Then again, could Sora honestly expect him to just listen to whatever he said? Roxas couldn't believe that Sora would tell him those things, to trap him in such a place.

He began sliding to the ground, holding tightly to the bars, reaching the bottom, he wiped the moss off his hands onto his pants, leaving green stains on them, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. His heart was still hammering a little from the whole height thing.

He never did like those.

He quickly grabbed his board and began running towards the road, jumping onto the concrete sidewalk with much enthusiasm. He hated nature sometimes, bugs, dirt, all that crap was horrible. Why would anyone choose it over the city?

He shook the thought off and threw his board on the sidewalk, taking a glance around to confirm that he was just around the corner from the Taylor's house. He stepped onto the board and began to fly down the street when a sudden honk behind him nearly made him fall off.

He stopped and spun around to see Axel smirking at him through the windshield of a black Corvette, the top down, Axel just yelled to him, "Where you headed?"

Roxas leaned back onto his board nervously, thinking Axel was there to bring him back. But how would he know?

"No where…"

Axel raised an eyebrow, "Really? Doesn't look like that, need a lift?"

His eyes widened and he nodded immediately. What other chance would he ever have to be in a Corvette? No one in Bastion would have this car! It was way too expensive and fancy, bringing it into Bastion would be like the car's death sentence.

He ran over and jumped in, holding his board in his lap as he immediately ran his eyes over the interior in awe. Axel chuckled at him, smirking, "Cute, kid. So where ya headed."

Roxas' eyes widened in surprise. Did Axel just call him cute? Ew, "Um, 113 Hearts Avenue, uh, some friends of mine live there."

Axel's eyebrows shot straight up, "You have friends here? Didn't mention them before."

Roxas just nodded, looking out at nature running by in a flash, relieved that Axel wasn't bringing him back. The car was so smooth, everything about the ride was elegant, it put the teen in awe of it even though he had never actually been that into cars.

He never noticed the glances Axel would continuously flash him, or how the smirk on the other's face widened as he watched Roxas admire his car, "So," The blonde jumped and directed his attention back to the redhead, "What are you doing? Sneaking out?"

The blonde tensed, "I'm not just gonna sit in there all day! You can't really expect-"

He had started laughing, making Roxas bristle in anger. Why the hell was he laughing? This was serious!

"Relax Blondie," Roxas rolled his eyes at the nickname, "Hey, how about this? I drop you off if-"

"How about you just drop me off?"

Roxas glared at the redhead, really not in the mood for putting up with the guy. Axel frowned back at him, "Hey, I said chill, geez, can't take a fucking joke man?"

The blonde just turned his attention back to watching nature fly by, wishing it was concrete and iron buildings instead. He bit his lip, wondering when he could finally go back home, how long he would have to hang around with the Taylors for.

It wasn't that he disliked Sora and Axel, just their father. Who the hell did that guy think he was? But Axel wasn't anything like him, he was much more relaxed. And Sora…

There was just something about the guy, how he would be so friendly and how hard he worked. He was always working though, but that time, when he had actually gotten the chance to really talk to him, Sora had turned out different than how he first thought.

And not to mention those eyes, it was like he was watching the ocean in them. And they had seemed so vibrant when he had blushed after Roxas mentioned his Biology class, it was so…

His eyes widened in shock, no, he was not going down this train of thought. He had enough issues here as it is, he couldn't start crushing on a guy that was obviously straight, no way.

The car came to a stop, making Roxas quickly look up to see a mansion about the same size as Sora's. Of course, everyone here is rich, what did you expect? He turned to see Axel looking at him skeptically, "You friends with the Howards?"

"Who?"

"Kairi Howards, Sora's fiancé."

Roxas felt his heart cave in on itself, and he knew it was too late to go back now.

* * *

"_To make amends,_

_When it's way too late to fix this."_

* * *

Sora stared at the place where his brother had stood just seconds ago, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Of what he was supposed to say. Of what was expected from him. What his parents expected from him. And he came up with nothing, because in his parent's minds, Axel didn't exist anymore, Axel wasn't a part of the family anymore, and it was expected Sora play the same game as them, too.

But he didn't want to, Axel was his older brother, he loved him. Was he supposed to just let him walk out like this? Was he suppose to chase after him and beg for him to stay? What was he suppose to do without previous direction? What was he suppose to do in this situation?

He gulped the rock in his throat down, feeling the tears prickle closer to his eyes. He fell against the wall behind him and slid down to the floor, shock setting in for a bit. His mind spun in confusion, wondering why this happened, how it had come about, but knowing exactly the answer.

He threw himself off the floor, running down the hall towards Roxas' room. His parents were going to do the same thing to him, Roxas would leave too, and Sora couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let things repeat themselves in such a way. Roxas couldn't leave him, too.

He threw the door open without knocking, eyes widening in dead realization that the room was empty.

Roxas had snuck out. Like Axel. But was Roxas going to come back? Would Sora ever have the chance to fix things? Would Roxas give him another chance?

Stumbling over to the bed, he fell onto the soft covers, recognizing a vague unfamiliar scent and assumed it was Roxas. He spotted that strange doll Roxas had laying on the pillow, he wrapped it in his arms and curled up, squinting his eyes shut as the sunlight fell over him from the window, making him tear.

Or was it something else that was doing that? Either way, he couldn't, and didn't really want to stop them. He was tired of it, of all of it.

His parents.

Axel.

Himself.

All he wanted was for Roxas to not hate him, to not leave him like Axel. He didn't want to watch the blonde just walk out the door like his brother, he didn't want to be abandoned here.

He couldn't let himself be abandoned here, he wouldn't.

If that meant he had to stop living up to his parent's greatest expectations, then so be it. He would become like Axel if he had to, he would walk out if he had to.

But he would take Roxas with him, because no one deserved to be caged here.

He rolled over, letting his eyes run across the room until the settled on the album on the coffee table. He knew it was wrong to snoop, and he really didn't know what he was feeling at the moment, but he wanted to see it.

He wanted to see Roxas, he wasn't going to question it.

He crossed the room, slumping onto the couch and flipping the old leather book open without giving the Russian title a second glance.

The pages were filled with pictures of a man and woman he didn't know, but judging by the man's golden blonde hair, and the woman's baby blue eyes, Sora assumed they were Roxas' parents. They looked happy together, very happy.

Then came a few pictures of Roxas as a baby with them, and then a couple pages of Roxas growing up. He was cute, as far as little kids go, adorable if you were to compare him to any other kid for sure. There was something about those baby blues…

Sora flipped through the pages silently, feeling a smile tug onto his lips as he looked at them. Suddenly, Roxas was gone. It was just the man and woman in different places again, smiling and looking happy once again.

The brunette quickly flipped through those, looking for Roxas in the pages again, only to suddenly come across a picture of a different family. The father was tanned with some vibrant orange hair that shocked Sora slightly, but it seemed natural as the sleepy child in the pale mother's arms looked just like a younger version of him.

There was a warmth in the picture, leaving Sora with a fist clutching his heart as he missed something he had never actually experienced. A glance down at the bottom of the page made his eyes catch the sight of a label on the bottom.

_Home._

What did that even mean anymore?

* * *

"_And rock bottom isn't very far,"_

'_Cause all they are, are broken dreams and shattered hearts."_


	6. SOS

_**FINALLY! You have no idea how long it took me to write this chapter! I mean, it took weeks! And it's not that I'm struggling with the story, I swear I know where I'm going with it and what's going to happen, I just don't have the time to type it out anymore! Between Creative Writing short story, Journalism magazine, Drama Club practices extending until 8 at night, and the multiple journal entries and essays my American Lit teacher sincerely thinks my class needs, I just don't have the time or energy to type anymore! But I finally skipped Drama and homework tonight just to finish and post this chapter! I really hope you like it! It's not beta-ed, and I haven't gotten the chance to re-read the second half, so there are probably a bunch of mistakes, point them out to me and I'll fix them!**_

**_The song used is _**_All To Myself** by "Marianas Trench," and before people comment, this will not be a sad story. It will have a happy ending, I just have to get the time to get there!**_

* * *

_**6 :: S.O.S.**_

* * *

_I don't patronize,  
I realize I'm losing and this is my real life,_

* * *

Roxas was nothing less than pleasantly surprised when he found Kairi and Naminé were home, with their older sister, Xion, too. It was a surprise, but there have been plenty of those today, so they were starting to sort of lose their shock.

Fiancé?

He was outside by their pool in no time, shoes off, shorts rolled up a bit, feet soaking in the cool water. Kairi was sunbathing in a chair to his left, Naminé sketching in the chair to his right, Xion was doing laps around the pool. Guess she is the athletic sister, Naminé the artistic and Kairi… the engaged one?

The redhead cracked open one eyes, letting her gaze rest on the blonde teen between her and her twin. He sat quietly, staring at the water with furrowed eyebrows. When he had suddenly shown up at their front door, he seemed a bit out of it, like his mind wasn't completely there. She was concerned, but she wasn't exactly sure if it would be a good idea to start asking him about it. It could just upset him more, after all…

And wasn't he suppose to be in school anyways?

"Roxas," She spoke softly, not needing to really raise her voice any as the only noise disturbing the silence would be Xion's smooth swimming, Naminé's pencil sketching, and a couple birds in the surrounding trees and bushes.

The blonde still flinched like he was gonna be punched though, looked like he nearly fell in the water he was so shocked by it.

His head spun around and his baby blues locked onto the redhead, going from surprise to outright desperate confusion, and Kairi found it hard to not feel some sort of sympathy for the teen, "Hey, um, today is Monday, correct? Why are you not in school?"

The blonde's eyes widened and his gaze snapped back to the pool, making Naminé look up in slight surprise as she seemed to suddenly realize what her sister was saying was correct. Was Roxas trying to cut school by hanging out with them? How did he even know they would be here? They never told him they were home-schooled now.

"I'm not going," He shrugged and his eyes caught onto Xion's movements. How long had she been under water now? Geez, she could seriously hold her breath.

Kairi raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? You can not just skip school, Roxas."

He sighed and let his head tilt back so he could look up at the sky instead, "Nah, not that, I'm not 'allowed.'"

"Excuse me?"

"Exactly."

Kairi frowned and shot a worried look to her twin just as Xion finally stopped for some air, gasping for breath, the black haired girl leaned against the side of the pool and turned her attention to the conversation before her, wondering what caused her younger sisters to become so worried so quickly.

Kairi gave a confused glance to Roxas and waited for him to speak up, but he didn't appear to have any plans to go into further detail without provocation, "What do you mean you're not allowed?"

He sighed and bit his lip, "I'm not allowed to tell you, I'm not even allowed to talk to you anymore."

"But you are talking to us," Naminé butted in quickly, giving him a sneaky smile, "Right now, you are talking to us in our own backyard. So what would be so bad about telling us why you are not suppose to talk to us?"

Kairi nodded quickly, beginning to become more upset, "You are our friend Roxas, we have a right to talk to you, just as you have a right to talk to us."

Xion blinked for a moment, "And isn't it law that you have to go to school anyways?"

Naminé nodded quickly, "It is!"

"Roxas why are you not allowed to go to school?" Roxas just stared back at Kairi for another couple minutes, his thoughts buzzing all around his head. He couldn't just sit here so normally anymore, not with the knowledge that she is ENGAGED to SORA.

He still couldn't believe Sora would be able to get a fiancé, he seems much too busy to do something like that. Maybe Axel was lying? Not with a bad intentions, just as a joke? Maybe he was just joking and wanted to see Roxas's reaction?

The easiest thing to do would be to just ask, ask Kairi herself if she was engaged to Sora. Turning his attention to the redhead, he looked up into her concerned gaze and felt an uneasy turn in his stomach.

What if she really was engaged to Sora? What if Sora really did love her? What would that mean for him? That it was an even smarter idea not to fall for him, that he was right, that it was stupid to even think about a straight guy like that, that…

It was too late and he knew it.

He hadn't been aware of it, he never saw it coming, he didn't even see him that much. There was the initial meeting of him, when he first arrived in the house, and there was their conversation that one night, and breakfast with his parents, and then when Sora told him that he could no longer leave. Other than that, he didn't really see or talk to him that much, but it felt like he had. That those moments together were stretched out forever in his mind. Not to mention he and Axel talked about Sora nearly non-stop during that day they spent together.

Roxas was curious, and Axel had a brother-complex.

Somehow, for a reason he couldn't fathom, he fell for Sora. Hard and fast. And now, realizing that Sora loves Kairi, that they're engaged, he was too afraid to even confirm this, to confirm that Sora was out of his grasp before he could even get a chance… He bit his lip and quickly turned away, glaring down at the water.

This wasn't like him, he didn't get upset like this, he didn't get this confused about things, he didn't get scared. He would have never hesitated to ask a girl her connection to a guy he was interested in, he wouldn't get upset if he found out a girl he kind of liked was with someone else or not interested in him. He felt like he wasn't himself anymore.

Why was he trying to hold on to an identity that didn't exist here? Maybe, in Hollow Bastion, he wouldn't be caught dead talking to these girls, he wouldn't care that Sora's dad said he couldn't go to school because he would do what he wanted in the end, which was probably not go anyways, and he wouldn't give Sora a second glance.

… Possibly.

Why was everything different here? Why was he so different here? He hated it, hated this place, hated everything here.

"Roxas?"

He pushed himself off the edge and let himself slip into the water, the chill shocked him to the bone, rattling his conscious mind, his clothes kept the water at bay for only a second, and the rest of him was also attacked with the icy tendrils. His mind stopped, went numb, blanked, the only things he was aware of was when his feet touched the bottom, and the noiseless screams ripping from his throat.

* * *

_I'm half asleep,  
And I am wide awake this habit is always so hard to break__,_

* * *

Sora felt himself become awake, and he turned onto his back to stretch, just to slip off the bed and fall to the floor. Groaning in pain, he blinked open his sapphire gaze to find out why the hell he just fell on the floor. Well, that is to be expected when sleeping on someone else's couch, is it not?

In a second, it all rushed back to him. He was in Roxas's room, he had fought with him, Axel walked out, Roxas disappeared like Axel, he didn't want Roxas to leave him too.

He jumped up from the floor and glanced at the clock quickly, feeling his heart skip as he realized it was three in the afternoon. How on earth did he manage to sleep for so long?

He jumped off the floor and ran to the hallway, looking up and down it to only see Yuffie battling a vacuum by the staircase, he ran past her without a second glance and sprinted for his father's office. The first thing he had to do was find Roxas and apologize, so he would have to make some calls around town to locate-He ran into Riku.

Flying back, hit just managed to steady himself with the wall before he was sent to the ground. Thankfully, for the preservation of his pride, Riku stumbled back quite a bit too, then looked up with a calm but still questioning look.

Sora's mind stuttered, spinning from the sudden jolt from his thoughts, blinking up at the silver-haired man in blank shock for a couple of seconds, leaving Riku to raise an eyebrow at the brunette teen. Silence reigned over them for a couple moments, before Riku broke it, "What?"

Sora flinched again, jumping up to stand in front of the other man nervously. He couldn't let Riku know that Roxas had run off, he was supposed to be here to watch Roxas, him and Reno were suppose to make sure he was safe and well-taken care of in the Taylor household and…

Sora and his father had **completely** forgotten about them. Why had they been so easy to overlook? The entire time they've been here, it's like they haven't been here at all, they sure knew how to blend in to the background, that's expected of a good Shinra agent.

"N-nothing, I just have to speak to my father. Sorry for, uh, running into you."

Riku nodded, still staring down at the teen suspiciously as he shuffled around the Shinra agent and quickly walked the couple more feet to his father's office. He immediately shut and locked the door behind himself the moment he stepped inside, sighing to himself quietly as he glanced around the room.

The phone caught his eyes immediately, and he was next to it in seconds, grabbing the phonebook in the second drawer of the desk it sat on. Collapsing in the leather chair he had seen his father sitting in less than 24 hours ago, he began flying through the pages looking for the number of the first person he could think of to call.

He dialed and winced when the bubbly voice began to half-shout through the phone at him, _"Hi! Gull Wing Restaurant-"_

"Rikku! It is Sora, have you seen Roxas?"

"_Sora Taylor? Wow! Two calls in two days! Are you just using Roxas as an excuse to talk to me?"_ One annoying giggle and some silence from Sora's end, and then she spoke again, although a bit more awkwardly, _"Um, no, haven't seen him, but I would call the Howards, I mean, he was talking to them so much yesterday and everything. Why are you looking for him, is there any trouble or something?"_

The HOWARDS? Again? Was she seriously telling the truth about Roxas having talked to them yesterday? Damn it, of all people for him to talk to, he just had to find the worst family to interact with! Kairi is probably telling Roxas all this crap about him, while he's freaking out over where the hell that idiot could have gone.

"Thank you, Rikku," He hung up before she could reply, then immediately began flipping through the phone book, praying to God that the Howards number would be listed, because there was no way in hell he would be able to remember it. If he did know it, he would try to forget it.

Quickly punching in the numbers, he hesitated on the last one, thoughts suddenly coming to a screeching halt. He was calling the Howards, he was calling **Kairi** to find Roxas. What if Rikku wasn't serious, or what if she was just being a ditz again and was mistaken? He couldn't screw up his family's relationship with the Howards, again, his father would kill him. And he was pretty sure calling them, asking them about a teen that his father explicitly said to make sure they didn't know, that probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.

He hung up the phone, falling back into the chair, feeling dread well up in the pit of his stomach. There was only one way he could think of to find out if Roxas was really at their home, but the last thing he wanted to do was see Kairi again.

Hell no.

She was probably the one and only person on this earth that he would rather jump out in front of a speeding semi than talk to (not counting his 9th Grade Biology teacher, Vexen). So the option of going there himself was totally out of the question, besides, he doubted Kairi would be at all happy to see him either.

He would just ask Naminé or Xion, as he got along much better with those two sisters, but they would definitely tell Kairi anything that involved him, and he didn't want Kairi to find out about it, because she would probably run to her "Daddy" and tell him everything, everything about Sora going on some crazy search for some guy she has never heard of.

Okay, so he couldn't go to their house himself, he would just have to ask someone else to do it for him. Axel couldn't, not after this morning, he couldn't even think about calling his brother, he didn't want to be reminded that he wouldn't be coming back. Demyx, Axel's best friend, was out of the question, too, because Axel was most likely there right now.

What about his own so-called friends? He couldn't really think of any that he could rely on, or trust enough, so most of his contacts were out of the question. Did he have anymore relatives? Not really, everyone he was related to was a royal bitch—Larxene.

Larxene would do it, she would definitely do it, she loves getting involved with Sora and Kairi's relationship, has ever since Axel publically came out of the closet. Plus, she's far enough removed from him now that Kairi and her sisters wouldn't even think to connect it to him.

He picked the phone up again, dialing the number automatically, straight from his memory, his foot tapping under the desk as he waited impatiently during the rings. After what seemed like forever, a voice, much less bubbly than Rikku's picked up, and Sora felt his hopes rise just a little bit.

* * *

_I don't want to be the bad guy,  
I've been blaming myself and I think you know why,_

* * *

Roxas sighed as he fell back onto the couch in the girl's living room… one of them, at least. A fuzzy and extremely soft pink towel was thrown over his head, covering his hair and falling over in front of his eyes, some baggy green boy shorts (courtesy of Xion's interesting wardrobe) and a dark purple tank top (tight, "snug," fit, with love from Kairi) and some comfy white flip flops that loudly smacked the bottom of his foot with every step he took (Naminé lent them to him).

With three pieces of clothing from three different teenage girls, giving him the color-coordination of Barney, he felt… well, gay. Seems he was finally dressing the part, but if any kids started dancing circles around him singing, he was gonna choke a bitch.

"Honestly! What the hell were you thinking? Jumping in the pool like that! With all your clothes on, too! You're lucky you're so damn skinny, or else we would've never been able to lend you clothes. And don't you dare complain about any of them, either! 'Beggars' can't be choosers,' right? Well, those are the biggest things we have, you're lucky we even still had them, because we usually donate that kind of stuff to The Salvation Army."

Just guess who that is. Yep, Kairi.

Hands suddenly grabbed the towel over his head, making the cloth completely cover his head as they viciously rubbed his hair dry. He felt like crying out in pain when he felt a couple small cracks in his neck, that couldn't be healthy. Soon enough, the hands flew off, leaving him dazed, confused, and bit dizzy.

Groaning, he pulled the cloth off his head and let it fall in his lap, sighing to himself and leaning back as Kairi marched off to the sofa across from him. The TV a couple feet away from the end of his couch was on, Xion playing some video game involving giant keys being used a weapon, and Naminé stood by the window behind Kairi's sofa, looking out it anxiously.

The redhead glared at him angrily, her lips turned down into a grimace, "Just what were you thinking, anyways? At least tell me that! We ask you a simple question, you get all weird, and suddenly you're in the pool! Just please tell me you aren't trying to drown yourself, because, trust me, you very well would have drowned if Xion didn't swim as fast as she did!"

Naminé glanced over at Roxas, concern shadowing her eyes, but then she turned back to look out the window quickly, her eyes growing a bit wider. Maybe she saw a puppy? He wished he could see a puppy, he would much rather be by that window watching a puppy than sitting in front of Kairi, especially when the girl was glaring at him like this. What did she expect him to say?

"What do you want me to say? I slipped, that's it."

"You did not slip! That was not a slip! You were sitting, you pushed yourself over the edge! We all saw you Roxas, you can not deny that!"

He sighed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, he turned his gaze down to the cleanly polished hardwood floor. Letting his baby blues run over the lines in the wood, his thoughts managed to somehow form groups in his head. The biggest groups being the ones with Sora's supposed engagement to Kairi and Sora himself. The imprisonment and his pure desire to just go back home already didn't completely fade away, though, as it screamed at him from the back of his skull. But, at the moment, he just couldn't take his mind off of Sora.

It just seemed so wrong, for Sora and Kairi to date or anything. It didn't make sense to him, he couldn't fathom the thought. He didn't think it could be possible for Sora to have a life outside all that work he did, it's not like he's seen him interact with people.

Arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he found his head fall into a comfortable spot between Kairi's shoulder and neck. He blinked a coupe moments in slight confusion before she spoke, "You look ready to cry, Hon, please just tell us what is the matter."

He glanced over to Naminé, just in time to see the girl hurriedly turn back around to not be caught staring, he even heard Xion pause her game for a moment, the background music lowering in volume only slightly. Sighing slowly, he worried his lip and let his gaze travel to the corner of the sofa Kairi had been sitting on only a minute ago, locking onto the corner as he let the thoughts and emotions rush over him for a moment, just a single moment.

A moment was all that was really needed, though.

He felt the first warm drop fall from the corner of his eye, and his heart clutched painfully as his chest caved in embarrassment. He didn't want to cry, it was too humiliating, he didn't want to cry in front of them. But then another burned across his cheek, and another and another, and he swore it was like lava pouring down his face.

Kairi held him tighter as he started to shake, like she was afraid he would fall apart, and she whispered something to him, but he couldn't hear her over the screaming in his own skull. He still said something back though, he definitely said something, he could feel his lips moving, and he could feel the relief swimming into his lungs as he spoke.

"I wanna go back home! My friends are fighting over me! And Sora's parents are assholes! And they won't let me go home! They won't let me leave their house! And they're making Sora make me stay! And Sora's too nice, he tries to make it better, and I can't hate him for it, I can't blame anything on him, he's too good! And Axel said that you were engaged to him! And that doesn't make sense, it just doesn't! I don't want it to, I don't want Sora to be engaged-"

A door slammed open, making everyone jump from the sudden intrusion. Roxas threw his head up, nearly missing Kairi's chin as her shocked expression stayed mostly the same when it turned to see who had entered the room. Larxene was across the room in only a few, quick, steps, smoothly grabbing Roxas's arm and tugging him up into her arms.

The blonde boy swayed in confusion as the woman wrapped her arms around him and cooed something about a "poor midget." His mouth open and closed a few times, no noise managing to make it out, no sense managing to form sanity in his mind, before he even realized it, she was half dragging him out of the room and towards the front door.

Taking the steps two at a time, just to keep up with her incredibly fast pace, he stumbled along after her, hearing the sisters behind him run out after them in moments. They wouldn't catch up until they were already at the door, standing there was a man with some crazy pink hair, the likes of which Roxas hoped he would never have to witness again, and a guy almost as short as him, with some short, extremely emo hair.

Like it was some kind of relay race, his wrist was passed to the pink haired man, and quite against his will, he was thrown over the guys shoulder and carried out the front door with the other guy following behind him. Leaving Larxene to smirk and turn to face the girls behind her.

Kairi scowled as her gaze snapped from her to Roxas and back, "What are you doing! This is kidnapping! I will call the police, Larxene, you will be arrested!"

She smirked, "I'm just bringing him back to his rightful guardian, I was asked to do that. He's not 18 yet, he has to listen to his guardians still."

Naminé's eyes widened as she stared at the blonde woman, quickly moving back to stand closer to Xion, the girl looking decidedly bored as she waited for her sister to become overly dramatic once again. Kairi never failed to disappoint, "This is trespassing! I could have you arrested! You will go to jail, Larxene, I will make sure of it, so bring Roxas back this minute!"

"I'm only taking him back to his little boyfriend, his lover, don't you know? I'm sure he will be much happier there, anyways." Her smirk turned sinister as she watched Kairi's face twist into confusion.

"Boyfriend? Who is…"

A gleam in Larxene's cat-like eyes appeared, full of malice and mischief as she leaned forward as if to whisper a little secret, "You know, his boyfriend, Sora."

She walked out, leaving the redhead in shock as she replayed Roxas's teary confessions and Larxene's little "secret." A deep shock was setting into her bones.

* * *

_Cause I want you all to myself,  
I can try and suck it up,_

* * *

Roxas was thrown back onto his bed, grunting in frustration as he jumped off it to face the pink-haired man. The guy just laughed at him and walked out of the room, calling out in a voice that sounded too manly for his hair for Larxene. The emo stood by the door with a raised eyebrow at him, watching as the blonde glared at him. The guy stared for another moment, shrugged, and also walked off, making him sigh in relief just a bit.

Then he heard footsteps rushing towards his room, and he tensed again, gasping as a tan blur rushed around the corner and into his room, slamming into his body and knocking him back onto his bed. He groaned as he could definitely feel a bruise forming on his stomach where the crazy flying mass smashed into him, then he glanced down to see the mass was Sora.

Sora, hugged him tightly for a moment before jumping off again, a light pink dusting across his cheeks, "Sorry! I'm so sorry, Roxas! Please do not leave! I will talk to my father, and if he does not drop this entire thing, then, uh, well, we will ignore it, alright? You are completely free, you can come and go as you please, but please do not be angry!"

"Stop!"

The room went silent as Roxas, still half on the bed, holding his head and shoulders up with his elbows, stared at Sora, the teen fidgeting nervously in front of him, a frown on his gentle face. Again, Roxas found his thoughts spinning, the only thing that stood out through all of it being, "This is too much for one day, just too much."

"It's too much."

"E-Excuse me?" Sora blinked a couple times, fear and anxiousness turning in his ribcage, he took a deep breath and swallowed, "Roxas, I just do not want you to… to feel unhappy here. I do not want you to…" To hate his parents like Axel? To rebel against them all the time like Axel? To **leave** like Axel? He didn't want to lose him, plain and simple, "I do not want you to dislike being with me here."

"I don't! I just—I don't dislike you! I like you—I mean—I like being here—But I don't! I don't want to be here—But I like being here—with you, I mean. And I just—I… I give up."

A deep sigh rushed out of him and he rolled over, turning to bury his face in his pillow. Sora felt a vague dash of déjà-vu, realizing this was the same position they were in this morning. Sora trying to talk to Roxas, and Roxas burying his head in a pillow and trying not to hear him.

They were getting no where, all this effort, and they were going around in circles. But what else could he do? What else could there to be done? Could he really do anything to make it stop, without having to fear for Roxas's feelings? Probably not, well, not the last one, at least, but he could definitely do something to break them out of the cycle.

Do something that he wasn't willing to do with Axel, something he should've done with Axel from the very beginning.

"If you want, I will call your uncle tonight, and I will ask him to… send you home, if you wish it, that is," That's it, right? Roxas doesn't want to be here, it's obvious, that's why he snuck out. He still doesn't want to be here, because Sora's parents tried to do the same thing to him that they did to Axel. And he won't ever be swayed into wanting to be here, whatever made Sora think that he could actually manage that?

A baby blue eyes peeked out between pillow and golden blonde hair, staring straight into Sora's sapphire eyes. There was a moment of hesitation, but this was what he wanted, wasn't it? From the very beginning, he just wanted to go back home, and this is what Sora was offering, to get him home. Of course he wanted it, there should be no hesitation.

Then why was it so hard to say?

"Yeah, please."

Sora nodded silently, his eyes glazing over with an emotion Roxas didn't want to recognize, and then he stiffly turned and marched out of the room, down the hall, pass Larxene's piercing gaze and the disinterested gazes of Marluxia and Zexion, he headed towards his father's office once again.

Roxas slowly lifted himself up from the bed, picking up his sketchbook and walked over to his bag. Stuffing it inside, he reached over to his photo album to find it lying open on the table, glancing at the page, he saw it was the picture of Wakka, Lulu and Vida. Sighing, he felt a frown tug at the corner of his lips.

He wanted to see them again, he could feel it, he knew it, but at the same time. Something felt wrong about it, leaving here, that is. He didn't like this place or anything, he didn't think he ever would, but something wouldn't settle right if he left. However, the decision was already made, he would be leaving, whether it would settle right or not.

The burning behind his eyes returned, threatening to tear across his face again, but he swallowed it down, he wasn't usually this much of a pussy. Reaching for his camera, he held it up to himself and quickly snapped the picture, grabbing the small square as it came out. He waved it around as it developed and then stuck it inside the next free page.

Not even daring to glance at the picture of himself, for fear of what he would see there, he took out the pen and wrote on the tag beneath: _S.O.S._

* * *

_I just can't suck it up,  
Make me feel like someone else._


	7. Nothing

_**I'm so tired... Gah... Anyways, I update... Aaaaaaaand... Yeah. Originally, I had wanted to use "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson for this chapter, but most of the lyrics only matched one section (Sora's fight with his father) so I couldn't use it for Roxas's scenes. So I had thought of using two songs, one for Sora and one for Roxas, because it would also signify how they are seperated, too. But I didn't want to mix song lyrics like that, because then they might get confused. So I decided on "Let It Happen" by Jimmy Eat World. Honestly, one of my favorite songs ever.**_

**_I hope you like this chapter as much as staring at a computer screen gives me headaches. I love reviews extremely very much, please send me love. Because I'm sending you mine! 3 _**

* * *

_**7 :: Nothing**_

* * *

_I have a ringing in my head_

_And no one to help me answer it_

* * *

"_Roxas wants to return to Hollow Bastion? Alright, I hope he hasn't been any trouble for your family. My secretary is telling me that the next flight is in three hours, would that be alright for you? Short notice, I know, but if he wants to leave, then he wants to leave, right?"_

That went… much easier than Sora had expected. No questions why?

"_Sora, you're a good kid, I could tell from the moment I met you… Take care of yourself."_

What was that supposed to mean?

* * *

_I must look like I'm running away_

_To you at your faster pace_

* * *

Roxas slung one duffel bag over his shoulder, and just dragged the other behind him, walking down the stairs to the foyer quietly. The entire house had fallen silent.

About ten minutes ago, Reno came to his room and told him to get ready, that they were leaving on a plane in about three hours. Sora really was letting him go home, giving him what he wants, he should be overjoyed to go back, to see his friends again. But why did it feel so wrong to look around this empty room, to see only Reno and Riku at the front door, waiting for him.

The weight of his camera, hanging from his neck, felt like a familiar comfort, and as he walked through the door, down the walkway, to the waiting car, he just repeated to himself, again and again, that this was what would make him happy.

That just because it didn't feel like it right now, that didn't mean that it wasn't true. Hollow Bastion was where he was happy, he would be happy again the moment he was back in the city, back with his friends, back with his family.

The car ride was strangely silent, and as Roxas finally tore away from his own thoughts and looked around, he noticed Riku rapidly messaging someone over what looked like a PDA or Blackberry or something. He had never been that good with technology, it was more of a Pence thing.

Turning his gaze over to Reno, he noticed the man smirking at him. He scowled in return, furrowing his eyebrows in irritation, "What?"

Riku looked up quickly, taking in the scene, then seemed to shrug it off as he just returned to his conversation on the small machine. Reno, on the other hand, seemed to just let his smirk become even more obnoxious, "No one noticed, did they?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Your lack of thinking? No, I think you escaped another group of people thinking you're a complete moron."

Reno started to crack up, then lifted a small suitcase off the floor, dropping it into his lap with that smirk _still_ plastered all over his god damn face, "I like you, kid, so I think I'll let you in on a little secret, yo. See this case?"

Roxas just humored him by not saying anything insulting.

Reno didn't miss a beat, "Well, this is your uncle's ticket to the good life, and because of this, me and Riku, we're gonna be seeing a couple more zeros on our paychecks."

Riku's head snapped up with a glare burning into Reno's forehead, "Shut up, moron."

Reno's laugh boomed all over the car, making Roxas's brain feel like it was going through a blender. He just wasn't in the mood, he never was, but today was the worst possible day for Reno to open his mouth.

"Just shut up."

He only whispered it, but the whisper was loud enough for them. The rest of the ride would be silent. As silent as the plan ride, and the car ride after that.

* * *

_I'm the evil one who said,_

"_Gonna let everything just happen,_

_Just like my chest, my ears are proud_

_And collision is such an ugly sound."_

* * *

Sora rolled over in his bed, staring out over to his alarm clock. Midnight, so Roxas was home by now, probably seeing that family of his, and talking with his friends about this place. Would Roxas mention him?

Would he want Roxas to mention him?

Would Roxas really have anything good to say about this place at all? Probably not. So he probably wouldn't have anything good to say about Sora either. Even so, Sora found that he hoped Roxas would mention him anyways, that even if Roxas said he was a puppet under his parent's thumb, that there would still be the fact that he made an impression of him. That he was an impression on Roxas's life.

He didn't see him off, he had stayed in his father's office and just told Aerith to tell Reno and Riku they would be leaving. He hadn't wanted to see Roxas leave him, too.

This would just repeat itself over and over again. How did he drive these people away? It wasn't even him, though, it was his parents who made him do these things. Because of them, everyone he found important in his life would end up leaving him, or force him to drive them away.

It started with Kairi. If they had treated him just a bit like her parents treated her, maybe he wouldn't have gotten jealous and ruin their relationship.

Then Axel. If they knew how to care for a child, maybe they wouldn't have driven him over the edge, maybe if they even just tried to be a bit more understanding and accepting, maybe Axel would have found Sora enough reason to stick around.

And now Roxas.

Everyone would leave him, in the end. The path his parents were putting him on, he felt like he was staring down it, looking into the future. And it looked empty.

He didn't want that, he really didn't want that, he wanted to be happy in his future, he wanted to live the life he has.

Like Axel, he was starting to realize why he swerved off the path.

* * *

_Every minute is arranged_

_Every moment lasts a day_

_And thinking about it can't help me let go, I know._

* * *

The store was locked, making Roxas feel relief as he dug into one of his duffel's zipper and realized he did remember his key. He turned around and nodded to the car, watching as Reno smirked again, more teasingly this time, then drove off. Roxas just ignored him, he wasn't in the mood to deal with assholes.

He jabbed the key in the lock and twisted it harshly, pushing the door open. Huffing, he picked his bags up and carried them into the kitchen, placing them on the floor as softly as he could, hoping to not wake Wakka, Lulu or Vida up.

A quick glance at the clock told him it was midnight, making him sigh to himself, this day felt like weeks, it was absolutely torturous, he was exhausted. Turning, he left his bags on the floor, figuring he could be as noisy as he wants carrying them upstairs tomorrow, but he just wanted his bed tonight.

About to step on the first step, a glint of moonlight caught on the lens of the camera still around his neck, making him remember something. He quietly turned and zipped open one of his bags, searching it until he pulled out the Moogle doll, creeping upstairs, he tip-toed up to the outside of Vida's door and placed the doll up against the wall outside of it.

He smiled to himself, slowly, knowing Vida would freak when he saw it. So he moved as quietly as he could back to his own room, thoughts feeling peaceful, finally, as he made his way to his bed. He collapsed on top of the made covers, breathing in the familiar scent and then…

He thought of Sora.

Damn it. He really did like him, didn't he? If it was freaking midnight, and he was exhausted, it had to be some fucking crush to make him unable to sleep.

Why did he feel so bad? It wasn't like he did anything wrong! It was clear from the moment he got there that he wanted to go home, Sora knew that, and it wasn't like he really owed Sora anything. Did he? He couldn't think of anything, really, except that he arranged going home for him and everything. And also took care of anything that had to do with him while he was around.

That didn't explain why everything felt so wrong though, why it felt like something horrible happened because he left. Whatever it was, he just wanted it to go away and let him sleep, to just let him drift through the rest of this night in unconsciousness.

Thankfully, his body let him have that break.

* * *

_All the petty scenes_

_And all the pretty things_

* * *

"_She __**broke off the engagement!**__"_ Sora's father roared at him over the phone, making the brunette wince at the man's tone, _"What the hell happened? What did you do? I just got off the phone with Mr. Howards, and he told me that, because of Kairi's 'strong feelings on the matter,' that the engagement between the two of you would be called off. Sora! Are you listening to me? __**What the hell happened!**__ Tell me this minute, and, Lord be my witness, if you-"_

"I do not know, do not ask me, I do not care, I did not want to marry her anyways. Roxas went back to Hollow Bastion. I am going to see Axel, good bye."

"_WHAT?"_—click.

As Sora lifted his finger off the "END" button, silence never sounded so sweet to him.

* * *

_Talk, talking a lot, but its still talk_

_Gotta love how it's somehow all on me_

* * *

Lulu smiled as she watched Roxas and his group of friend at one of the tables in the bakery, it was his break, and he so he sat eating a strawberry strudel between Hayner and Seifer, each of them trying to talk more than the other to the shorter teen. Meanwhile, Roxas had a glare set on his strudel that would make even the coldest of hearted people shudder a bit.

Seifer smirked, gaze going straight past Roxas and flitting over to Hayner's narrowed glare, "Bet you missed Bastion while you were gone, right? Must've been hard not having me around for so long."

Hayner snorted, rolling his eyes at the remark, "Don't grow a bigger ego, he probably took a break from you as a vacation. What he probably-"

"What he probably thinks," Roxas interrupted, snapping his gaze from Seifer to Hayner and back, then sighing deeply and glaring back down at the table, "What he probably thinks is that you two are completely idiotic retards. Just admit you wanna fuck each other and leave me alone."

With that, he left his strudel, the table, and the idiotic retards to stare at each other in shock, before Hayner averted his gaze, speaking the first words to break the awkward silence.

"I'm just gonna…"

"No," He flinched as Seifer's hand wrapped tightly around his arm, pulling him back into the seat, Seifer's eyes pierced his fiercely, making Hayner gulp and look away again, "We… Hayner, we need to talk, now."

* * *

_Say whatever you want_

'_Cause I can laugh it off._

* * *

"You can stay here for awhile, if ya wanna, man, but, uh…" Demyx looked around his apartment slowly, gaze landing on Axel, Larxene, Marluxia and Zexion all lounging on the couch and watching them.

Sora shook his head, "It is alright, I am not asking. I understand your situation."

Axel's jaw was still slack, eyes wide as he continued to stare at his little brother, "You really said that to him? You can't go back home, Sor! He's going to-"

Sora just shook his head again, averting his eyes to the floor, "No, it is alright. I just came to tell you that…" He felt the air catch in his lungs before it even got a chance to be used, but he recovered quickly, "Roxas, he, uh, he went back home."

Axel frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Hollow Bastion… He told me, after Father had said some things, I asked him if he wanted to go home. And he said yes, so… I called Mr. Shinra, and he, and Reno, and Riku, they all left. They are gone."

The room was quiet, leaving Sora to shift awkwardly for a moment. He glanced up, seeing Axel lean forward a bit, then he crossed the room in the time it took him to blink, and his arms were thrown around his brother. Sora relaxed immediately, burying his face in the redheads chest, returning the embrace by wrapping his arms around his hips.

"Hey, it'll be alright, just tell me what happened. I'm here for you, I'll always be."

* * *

'_Cause I can laugh it off._

_I can laugh it off._

* * *

Roxas stared down at his sketchpad blankly, the bakery buzzing around him with the usual morning customers who stopped in on their way to work, he blindly let his pencil run over the paper, lines materializing of their own free-will.

A thump on the seat next to him snapped him out of his daze, making his eyes snap up to see Wakka smiling down at him, "What do you think you're doing? Sittin' here and starin' at that thing like it bit ya?"

Roxas felt a small smile slip over his face, turning his eyes to look around the shop and take in the sight of people, "Nothing really, just drawing."

"That ain't looking like any 'just drawing' to me, that looks like it's some serious art right there. Have _you_ seen it?"

Roxas frowned, his gaze turning back down to his sketchpad, he gasped as he really looked at the picture, then slammed the pad shut. A hot pink color crept across his face as Wakka's room-filling laughter echoed off the walls, causing a couple customers to stop and look for a moment. The teen sighed, deeply, and stared down at the cover of the pad, a deep frown etched into his features.

"It's nothing, really."

Wakka stopped, tilting his head to the side like he was actually mulling over what he said, "Don't look like 'nothing,' Rox, that looks like something, a definite something."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't want to talk about it? Or you don't want to talk about him?"

Roxas scowled, worrying his lip, "Neither, I just don't-"

"Understand, want to get hurt, live, feel, fear? Which one are ya, Buddy?"

Roxas scowled again, "I said I don't want to talk about it."

"What else is there to say?" Wakka's gaze began to feel like it towered over him, making Roxas gulp. Sinking back down into his seat, he finally turned his sight up to see Wakka still smiling at him, "You like 'im, a lot, don't ya?"

He nodded, hesitating a bit, but gave in.

"Then why are you still mopping around here?"

"Well, it's not like I can just go back!"

"What's stopping you?"

"His parents! And-"

"You."

He turned away and stared out the window, breathing becoming quicker in his frustration as he felt his scowl turn into a more pitiful expression. He could hear Wakka sigh and stand up, brushing off imaginary dust, "Fine, ya pout and mope all ya want, but when you're done with that, I want to see ya do something about this. Because this isn't what Roxas would do, Roxas would do something."

Yeah, he knows.

He walked away, leaving Roxas to sit alone in the shop again. Glancing back at his sketchbook, he lifted the cover just a centimeter to peer inside. A pink shade ran across his checks again, and he let the cover fall back down.

Why did he feel like he did something wrong?

* * *

_I wonder what it is you could have seen in me._

* * *

Sora's jaw hung slack as he stared across the office at his father, shock finally beginning to lessen to an amount that allowed him to process this information properly.

"W-What?"

"It's gone," His father's head was on the desk, his laptop on the floor, half open, to the side and only a couple feet from him. His mother just stared at it, like she expected it to jump up and scurry into a hole in the wall.

"But… That doesn't make any sense-"

"It makes perfect sense!" His head snapped up, causing Sora to flinch, the anger and desperation clear on his features to the others in the room now, "Fucking Shinra! Everything is gone! My data, my work, everything I had in the making, the money! It is all fucking gone! That bastard did not even try to hide that he stole it! He must have done it while that brat was staying here, that nephew of his was probably a spy!"

"Roxas wasn't a-"

"SHUT-UP! I don't want to hear it from you! You were suppose to watch them, but you let them steal everything from us! We are ruined, Sora! What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?"

Silence reigned over them again, Sora turning his gaze away from his father's eyes. Was that why Riku and Reno had made themselves so invisible? To steal information from his father's office? Roxas wasn't involved in it, Sora knew that much, but he could believe Riku and Reno would do that.

Roxas he couldn't believe could do that.

He bit his lip, with-holding his words, knowing they wouldn't make the situation better, instead turning his gaze around until finally spotting his mother. Sitting quietly in her seat, like always, her gaze straight ahead, her face back into the porcelain doll mask she had practiced so well. Sora could feel his blood boil, and suddenly the words were rushing past his lips.

"Roxas had nothing to do with this! And it is not like you can turn this around and blame it on me, maybe if either of you were home more than a couple times a month, maybe you would have noticed that something was off."

His father's head snapped around quickly, enough to make Sora wince in fear of whiplash, "Are you talking back to me?"

His voice would hesitate, "Yes! I am!"

"Of all the things I have done for you, you have the nerve to stand here and disrespect me? We work for you, we work to make sure you will have a good future, and you-"

"If you had wanted me to have a good future, then maybe you should've actually raised me. Maybe if you were around enough, I would've felt like you were actual parents. Maybe if you were more like parents, Axel wouldn't have left!"

"Don't bring him into this!"

"He's a part of this, too! He's a huge part! He's your son, but you toss him aside and try to pretend he doesn't exist because he doesn't shape to the way you want him to! If I don't either, if I turn out like him, too, will you try to forget me, too?"

"This is not the time to be talking about this-"

"Why not right now? When else is a good time? There is never time with either of you! You're never around!"

"I am talking right now! Do not interrupt your fath-"

"It's not your turn to talk! **I'm** talking right now, and **you** are going to fucking listen to **me**!"

The room was dead silent again, time feeling like it had frozen still as the scene felt like it was being photo-copied into his mind. He could see it now, how they stared at him, he could feel the recognition they were finally giving him. Not for achieving something, never for achieving something, because to them there was always something more he could have done to be better, something he would always fail at.

They were looking at him with shock, because they were actually seeing him. And he liked it, he liked how his mother looked heart-broken, how his father looked ready to fall apart, it was horribly cruel, it was messed up. It was just what he needed.

"I'm gone."

* * *

_I can hear you now_

_Gotta love how it's somehow all on me_

* * *

He hated this so much, he couldn't stand it even a bit. He was really consumed, wasn't he? This wasn't healthy, he should really learn to move on, Sora couldn't be healthy for him. He was supposed to just be some pretentious rich boy in Roxas's mind, especially after he returned to Bastion and became the old Roxas again.

So why wasn't it happening? Why was there no shift of personalities? Why was he still dreaming of seeing Sora again? Because he was a masochistic dumbass, that's why.

"Okay, we're your best-friends and all, and we're gay, but we're still guys, man, and you seriously look ready to cry, so you have to know how awkward this makes us feel," Roxas jumped a bit, flying out of his thoughts to stare at Hayner and Seifer, both were giving him concerned looks as they held their struggle bats.

They were concerned over him? They were supposedly dating now, and their idea of a date is to grab some struggle bats and beat the shit out of each other. Roxas wasn't sure to call that a healthy orf insane relationship, but it seemed to be working out for them… so…

"You're zoning out. Did you fall down some stairs and give yourself a concussion or something? You're a total space-case," Seifer smirked at him, making him shake his head and sigh.

"Nah, I'm fine, just thinking about some stuff."

Hayner scowled, looking like he just ate a sour gummy worm, "What happened to you on Destiny Island, man? You've been acting all weird since you came back."

Roxas flinched, instantly making eye contact with him, "Nothing happened, alright! It's nothing!"

"Fine! Don't flip out on me! I was just asking!"

Seifer started laughing at them, making Roxas relax and lean back against the wall. This was miserable, living like this, but there was no other way to do it, was there?

Something smacked him over the head, making him yelp and glare up at Seifer, but the older teen cut him off before he could protest the action, "Wakka told me about that guy you drew. All I gotta say to ya is that waiting around like this, figuring you can't do nothing, you're wasting everybody's time. Don't wait forever, don't make the mistake of beating yourself up all day everyday because of it, just go. Forget what's stopping you, and just do it."

Hayner looked up at the older teen, feeling his face redden as he realized Seifer was speaking from experience.

Looking at the two, Roxas felt something rush over him, something that made his stomach turn into knots, and his eyes burn, and his head ache. He grabbed his board muttered something about not feeling good, and left the two to themselves.

* * *

_I must look like I'm running away_

_To you at your faster pace_

* * *

Kairi looked at the ceiling, resting her head against the pillow of one of the living room's couches, gently holding the phone to her ear, listening to the person on the other end. Surprise was a major understatement for how she felt.

It was balanced somewhere between floored and comatose.

"_Kairi? I-I know that we don't exactly, well…"_

"No! No! You-You can, I, well, I am just surprised is all. You are welcome here. Actually… I had some things to talk about to you…"

"… _Me?"_

"It's about Roxas…"

* * *

_I wonder what it is you could have seen, in me._

* * *

Roxas stared down at the photo album, one thought in mind:

There was nothing of Sora.

* * *

_I'm the evil one who said,_

_I can laugh it off._


	8. Dreams

_**Okay, good and bad news. Some funky stuff is happening to my computer right now, and basically I have to go through all my shit and erase almost everything I use. Thankfully, I don't think any of my documents have to be erased, so that means my stories will not be affected. Unfortunately, for the people who followed me to YouTube, almost everything I use for making my videos is gone. All my Final Fantasy clips, some Kingdom Hearts clips, ALL MY ANIME. It's just gone. Thank God I still have my Kingdom Hearts clips, though. But this means that's all I really have, so...**_

**_Damn._**

**_Anyways, the song used is "All The Right Moves" by OneRepublic, I freaking love this song. The lyrics and the way it is sung, it's just amazing._**

**_I hope I wrote this new chapter fast enough for you guys, and I thank everybody who reviewed in the last one, but I'm not replying to the reviews right now because I'm busy fixing my computer and writing up these freaking chapters, and there were no important questions... At least I don't think there were... If you do have an important question, then just say "IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR THE DUMBASS!" k? It'll get my attention. If you're an anonymous (grr, I hate not being able to reply those!) then I'll answer you in the author's note of the next chapter. Cool? Cool. :D_**

**_I hope you loves this chapter, I know I made a very bad pun with Roxas (LOVESICK! HAHA!) but I couldn't help it, and... everyone... I LOVE YOU. 3 (And your reviews, please send them.)_**

* * *

_**8 :: Dreams**_

* * *

_It can be possible that rain can fall,  
Only when it's over our heads  
_

* * *

Kairi watched on in amusement from the couch as Sora and Xion bickered over the video game, Naminé sat next to her, sketching something in her pad again. There was something so strange about seeing Sora in her living room like this, talking and joking like they have all been best friends for so long.

At the same time, though, it seemed so right. Like this was how things were always meant to be, for them to really be friends like this, and they just hadn't seen it before. Either way, it didn't matter to her, because they were friends now.

It had been like an unspoken truce. Sora asked for help, and Kairi answered. Neither had ever gotten along, neither even liked the thought of the other, but Kairi agreed to help Sora, and that changed everything.

Sora honestly hadn't been expecting Kairi to take him in, he hadn't really thought of where he could go when he told his parents he was "gone," it's not like Demyx could take in anymore people. So she was seriously his last resort, and it had taken him every ounce of sense to call her and ask, especially sense she even broke off the engagement and everything.

He had thought she hated him just as much as he hated her, but the moment he stepped inside the Howards home three days ago, he was treated like he belonged there. Kairi seemed to have tried to put their past behind them and start over, Xion teased him like an older sister would tease her brother, Naminé was so gentle and kind and light-hearted, and their parents didn't even hesitate to begin to make up a room for him and make sure he was comfortable.

He felt more welcomed here than he ever did back with his own parents.

Naminé glanced up, looking across the room to the brunette boy who was currently deep into some battle with Xion in a video game, then turned to Kairi, worry suddenly over-coming her face, "Kai, it's been a week…"

Kairi nodded slowly, a frown also coming over her face. It had been a week since they have heard or seen anything from Roxas, since Larxene dragged him out of their home and told her his involvement with Sora. She had thought, at first, that maybe Roxas was avoiding them out of embarrassment. But they didn't see him any where, at the restaurant where they met, or on the street. Then Sora came to live with them for awhile, and she figured he would definitely show up some time, because of what Larxene said.

But he never did. And Sora didn't leave that much, usually he just hung out with the sisters while they went shopping or out to eat. She couldn't help but start to worry over their friend, as he had been so upset when they had last seen him, not to mention Larxene is a rather dangerous person.

But if it is true, about Roxas and Sora being… Then Sora must know what has happened to the blonde teenager.

"Sora," She had to make sure he was safe, that things were alright with him, she had even reasoned with her father for days to make him call off their engagement, just to make sure she wouldn't get in the way of them. Sora turned around, pausing the game as he made eye contact with the redhead, "About Roxas…"

His eyes seemed to widen for a second, then advert to the floor, a certain sadness filling the air around him, mixed in with what seemed to be shame, "You were friends with him, right? I'm sorry, it was my fault."

Kairi gasped, immediately thinking of the worst conclusion possible from that sentence, but Xion cut in before the dramatics could be taken too far, "What do you mean? What happened?"

Sora frowned, still staring at the carpet pitifully, "He went back home, probably because of me and my parents. I don't think he'll be coming to visit anytime soon, either."

Kairi felt the concern wash over her just from seeing the look on Sora's face, "What happened, I mean… Larxene had been here and took him away, and she told me about your two's relationship, so when-"

Surprise jumped to his features, and his head snapped up, "Excuse me?"

"Larxene, she had come here while Roxas was over about a week ago, and she had just grabbed Roxas and began-"

"No, no, what had she told you about mine and Roxas's relationship," Sora scrunched his eyebrows together, feeling suddenly very suspicious of one blonde haired bitch.

Kairi raised an eyebrow, then spoke again, more slowly, more carefully, "She had said that you two were dating."

Sora's jaw dropped, and a bright red highlighted his cheeks, "W-What? No way! We weren't-aren't dating! I'm not gay!"

"That's hard to believe," Xion snorted, making Sora turn to glare at her.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"C'mon, Sora, you just scream gay, I mean, Roxas seems more straight than you."

Sora looked a bit like he had been slapped, "B-But he **is **gay!"

Naminé laughed at the two, "Well, that's ironic, isn't it?"

"Whoa, wait a minute," Kairi held up her hands and then pointed to Sora, "So you're telling me that you two haven't hooked up?"

Sora's face reddened again, but a stubborn scowl jumped to his features, "Nothing of the sort. I told you, I'm not-"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, but Roxas likes you, he definitely does."

Sora's eyes widened again, and he shook his head quickly, "No, he doesn't, he really doesn't, he probably hates me more than anything."

"No! He told me that he did! You have to talk to him, Sora, he was crying when he was over here because he thought you and I were going to get married! He really likes you!"

"Why? Why do I have to talk to him? He's gone, okay? He left! Just like you and Axel, he hates me now, so just leave it alone!"

Kairi's mouth snapped shut as everyone stared at Sora in slight shock, even he just stared at the floor like he was still trying to comprehend the situation. But Roxas couldn't like him, that would mess everything up. Nothing would make any sense anymore.

"If he liked me, why would he leave me?"

* * *

_The sun is shining everyday, but it's far away  
Over the world is death.  
_

* * *

Roxas sneezed violently, grabbing a tissue from the box on the dresser next to his bed and blowing his nose, then he just groaned and fell back onto the mattress. His light-headedness was making the room start to spin, so he just closed his eyes and let it. Getting sick sucked… bad.

Like a bitch with a hotdog bad.

A soft knock was heard at his door, but, honestly, unless it was Sora, he really didn't give a damn who the hell it was, he just wanted to sleep. It's too bad that person didn't need him to let them in, because the door was open and a small body was attempting to crawl up onto the bed with him.

He groaned again, rolling over to face the child and gently pushing him back onto the floor, "Nah, Vida, I'm sick. Go play with Mum or Dad, k?"

The child pouted and furrowed his eyebrows together, looking quite comical, more so than serious, "But I wanna play with Rockus!"

"Rockus is gonna puke out his digestive track if you play with him, do you really want that?"

The child continue to stare at him for another couple seconds, eyebrows still furrowed together in thought, then, "Will it hurt Rockus?"

"Very much."

"… Rockus BIG BOY! PUSSY!" And then he ran out of the room, leaving the pussy to seethe and stare at the wall across from him. He has to remember, though, not to lose his temper. This is a toddler that insulted him, not someone who can be taken responsible for their actions…

He'll get his revenge when Vida goes through puberty…

"Oi," His eyes snapped up to see Wakka standing in the doorway, a sympathetic grin forced to his face, he walked over and handed the cordless telephone to him, whispering, "It's your parents, thought you'd want to talk to them."

Roxas quickly nodded, stopping when it made him even more dizzy, then he grabbed the phone from the father, lightly pressing it to his ear, still laying down in bed so as not to get light-headed, "'Ello?"

"_Roxas? Are you alright, Honey, you sound like shit!"_

"Such eloquence, Mum, Shakespeare would just die hearing you speak."

"_I bet. It's nothing serious, is it?"_

Actually, it was a really nasty bug that had been going around the city, making people puke anything they ate, gave them a high temperature, and took away every bit of energy from them, "Nah, just a cold."

"_Oh, good, I hope you get better really soon, though, it just sounds horrible. Oh, this is long distance, I should just get to the point. Rufus, your uncle, he called me a little while ago, I'm so sorry he involved you in one of his schemes, he's always finding these-"_

"Schemes?" Roxas attention suddenly snapped to the front of his mind, thinking of Rufus sending him to Hollow Bastion, to the Taylors. Was that all a scheme? What kind of goal did he have in mind with that?

"_Oh, yes, he's always been a business man first, and I'm afraid with his line of work, he's practically married to cash. It seems he went for the Taylors this time, I heard of them before. We were at a party together back when you were just a baby. They spent the entire time talking about their two sons and how they would make sure they had all the opportunities in the world. They're the ones who inspired us to really stick around in Hollow Bastion to raise you, instead of continuing to travel. Thank God for that!"_

A ringing in Roxas's ears made it hard for him to properly listen to his mother. Rufus _targeted_ the Taylors, what was that suppose to mean? Did something bad happen to them? To Sora?

"What happened?"

"_Oh, your father just tripped over his shoes, he has such big feet, I wouldn't worry about him though, he's so hard-headed after all-"_

"No, to the Taylors, what happened? What did Rufus do to them?"

"_The Taylors? Why are you so concerned with them? Anyways, he does the same thing with these families he manages to weasel into trusting him. He steals their corporation's secrets, sells them, and steals all their money, too. I can't exactly remember what line of work he does specifically, but I know he works in energy, more like something of a cover-up, if you ask me."_

"He stole all their money?" Sora didn't have any money? Oh God, just imagine how his parents would react. What would they do, was Sora homeless? He couldn't be, there was just no way. Axel would take care of him, he definitely would.

"_And I heard it was right after his oldest son walked out, can you believe that? How horrible, especially sense they wouldn't stop talking about their children back when we met, they must have been devastated. And not to mention that the Howards daughter broke off the engagement to his second son, they're definitely not looking on some bright times right now."_

Axel **walked out?** Now of all times? What happened to Sora then? Kairi broke off the engagement! Before or after? Does that mean they really aren't in love, it was all about money? Kairi isn't that kind of girl, though, did they have a falling out? Was it because of what he had said to her?

"I-I gotta go, Mum, I love ya, call again soon!"

"_Huh? Roxas? I love you, too-"_

Wakka still stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow as Roxas reached up for his wallet on the dresser, digging through it until he found the number of the Howards household. He had never bothered to write down the Taylors, since he was the one who was there, so this was the closest thing he could get.

The rings felt like they were dragged out forever, making him hold his breath in anticipation, waiting impatiently for the answer, his cold the last thing on his mind. Finally, a voice answered, "Howards household, maid spe-"

"Kairi, may I speak to her, or Naminé, or Xion?" Or a fucking talking swan, as long as it could tell him what happened to Sora!

"One moment," The maid huffed, obviously ticked that she had been cut off, but then he heard the phone placed down, and he was left to impatiently wait for an answer, again.

Across the room, Wakka raised an eyebrow at him, not speaking because he was a bit afraid to interrupt, but still deeply interested. He knew all of Roxas's friends, but not the ones mentioned, maybe he made them on Destiny Island? Roxas never talked about Destiny Island, he was being so secretive about the entire thing, and it has been a week so-Wait! He's making a long distance call, isn't he? That's gonna be one bitch of a bill to pay off!

"_Hello?"_ Roxas jumped as the feminine voice answered the line, making him wonder which of the sisters it was.

"Hey, it's Roxas!"

"_Roxas?"_ There was a pause after the surprised shout, then he heard a click but he ignored it as she began to speak again, _"It's Kairi! It's been so long! What happened to you! It's like you just disappeared or something! What did Larxene-"_

"I went home, to Hollow Bastion. But I just got a call from my parents, they said some… bad things happened to Sora-the Taylor family. Is Sora alight? And Axel and his parents?" Nice cover up, that wasn't awkward at all. Not like it matters anyways, Kairi and Sora didn't talk so it didn't matter if she knew about his crush.

"_Oh… Yeah, I heard about it. Don't worry about them, Axel is living with Demyx and his parents went to a hotel for awhile, or that's what I heard. And Sora… Hey, Roxas? Do you like Sora?"_

He gulped, fidgeting with the corner of his quilt, Wakka still watching him from the doorway was making him nervous, and he could feel the heat travel up to his face, "Uh… Yeah… I do."

"_He's living with us right now-"_

"What?" Was he listening? Did he hear?

"_Roxas, I want you to talk to him, you-"_

He hung up.

* * *

_Do you think I'm special?  
Do you think I'm nice?  
Am I bright enough to shine in your spaces?  
_

* * *

Sora leaned back against the couch, bringing his legs up to sit Indian style, he could feel Kairi's eyes on him as the dial tone continued to echo around the room, after what felt like hours, she finally reached over and hit the end button on the machine, taking it off of speaker phone.

She sighed as she looked back to her ex-fiancé, watching him stare at the corner of the room blankly. For a moment, she wondered if she should really say anything. With everything that was going on for him, with his family losing all their money, Axel walking out, him being forced to live with them, and not to mention the obvious fight he is having with his parents, she really wondered if she should even bring up Roxas anymore. Wouldn't it just cause more trouble?

Then again, she was a firm believer that love could conquer all. So she liked to think that _when_ (not if) he and Roxas did finally get together, then all his problems would lessen, because he has Roxas.

Using this delusional logic, she got up and walked over to sit next to her friend, leaning against his shoulder as she figured he wouldn't exactly accept a hug from her right now. She was probably right.

Sora didn't want to even think about Roxas, at the moment, but she just would drop it, would she? It wouldn't make any sense, "If Roxas really liked me… then he wouldn't have left."

"He just said so himself. What's your reasoning for that?"

Sora could feel his mouth open, could feel his lips trying to form words, any words, any reasoning for anything, but he just came up dry.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"He doesn't want to talk to me. He hung up."

"Make him talk to you."

Sora's eyebrows raised as he looked to the red haired girl in surprise, "And how would I do that? It's not like I can make someone do anything over a phone!"

Kairi's gentle expression fell, replacing it with irritation, then a bright smile flew up on to it, a little too bright. Suspiciously bright, "Go to him!"

She was reading on too many romance novels, "Go to him!" That sounds like something out of an 80's Harlequin novel, the kind you would get free at a Stop & Shop, "What? How would I get to Hollow Bastion?"

"Take a plane!"

"If you have happened to forget, my family is probably the least wealthy on the island at the moment! I can't afford a plane ticket!"

Kairi rolled her eyes, "If you've happened to forget, your family being poor makes my family the most wealthy on the island, and _we_ can afford a plane-hell-we _own_ a plane!"

Sora scrunched up his nose, "Well, doesn't that just make you special? But it can't possibly work, your parents would never let me take your plane to Hollow Bastion without talking to my parents. And that just isn't happening."

Kairi frowned, seeing the reasoning in that. Her parents would be the first to know if she ordered for the plane to be taken to Hollow Bastion, and they would stop them in seconds, and they definitely wouldn't let Sora go alone without his parent's permission…

"Naminé, Xion and I will go, and you can sneak on!"

Sora just stared at her, "Are you being serious?"

"I can tell them that we want to see Roxas, because he's our friend, and we're worried about him! They'll let us go, and then I can ask some of those new maids and butlers we hired to sneak you on, and it's perfect!"

Sora just stared as she continued on, making plans, calling up her sisters and father, then ordering around a couple servants to prepare things. Suddenly, he was being pushed out the door and into a car (which he noticed was being driven by Cloud, had he been hired by the Howards?). The drive went too quick, he was snuck out onto the runway too quick, and he was on the plane in what felt like seconds.

This couldn't be happening. It wouldn't make any sense. Roxas was one of the people who left, he couldn't seriously be getting him back. And besides that…

"I'm not even gay!"

Xion and Naminé's head snapped up as they clicked their seatbelts in, just giving him a weird look, but Kairi didn't even glance up from her paperback novel, "Yeah, sure, bisexual, whatever you wanna call it."

"I'm not!"

Kairi sighed, and put her book down, looking across from her to Sora's seat, she gave him a dangerous gaze, "You wanted him to stay, didn't you?"

"… Yeah," Sora nodded slowly, feeling unsure about answering her question.

"You've been mopping about him being gone, haven't you?"

"I wouldn't say-"

"That was mopping."

"Fine," Sora huffed, crossing his arms and falling back into his seat.

"And you went to great lengths to make sure that he would be happy, thus the reason he went home, am I correct?"

Sora just nodded, feeling a queasy feeling rise into the pit of his stomach as a sly grin crossed Kairi's face, "You want to bang him so hard that you yourself can't believe it."

"Kairi!" Sora face flushed red and Xion and Naminé started to laugh at them, "I-I just-You're not-"

"Sora? What's wrong with liking Roxas?" She leaned back, that sly grin still spread across her face smugly.

He shook his head for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows together in frustration, "Nothing…"

"What's wrong with you liking Roxas?"

He just shook his head again, turning away to look out the window.

"Then why do you make it sound like there is something wrong?"

Because none of it made any sense to him anymore.

Why his family is poor now, why Axel refused to make contact with their parents, why his parents haven't tried to contact him, why Kairi was his friend now, why Roxas said he liked Sora but still had left, why Sora was on a plane to Hollow Bastion to see Roxas again when he supposedly didn't like him in the same way.

It just didn't make any sense.

It's almost like it isn't supposed to.

* * *

_Between the noise you hear  
And the sound you like  
Are we just sinking in an ocean of faces?  
_

* * *

Roxas just stared at the wall across from him in a daze, Olette, Hayner and Seifer all bickering in his room like he wasn't there, and really, he might as well have not been there, because his mind certainly wasn't.

"I'm just saying that we should at least consider Paine, I mean, she did give me the medicine that cured me," Olette crossed her arms and gave the two boys stubborn looks, but they were hardly backing down now.

Seifer threw his arms up in the air, gesturing widely, "Yeah, give him some of those Asian spices, make him burn out his nasal cavity, that makes complete sense! And, hey, we won't have to worry about future colds either! Because his nose will have been burned off!"

"I'm telling you two!" Hayner quickly butted in, throwing his arm in front of Seifer to stop him from continuing onto a rant, "Exercise is the quickest way to make a cold go away! Just sweat the virus out! It works for me every time!"

"Like that makes any sense at all! He should be getting rest and medicine! Paine's medicine! She knows what she's doing, and she uses these natural herbs that her cousin, Rikku, sends straight from Destiny Island!"

Oh, God, they mentioned that place!

Roxas groaned and rolled over, turning his back to them, but it didn't seem to make a difference to them, as they just continued to argue about his fate. Leaving him to just stare at the wall his bed was pushed up against, and stare at the pictures he has taken of his friends over the years. He would always take the best ones and tape them to the wall next to his bed, so he could always look at them easily.

The first one that caught his eye was, of course, of Kairi and Naminé in the restaurant where they met, and the sight of it made him smile sadly. He probably wouldn't get to talk to them very much, or at all. That long distance call he made has Wakka freaking out over what their phone bill is going to look like. Plus, he hung up on Kairi this morning.

The moment she had mentioned that Sora was living there, all he could think about was what if he had heard Roxas say he likes him? Sora would reject him completely, he wouldn't even want to be friends with him. After all, he is obviously trying to be the perfect son for his parents, and being gay is definitely not on their list.

Besides that, he probably just thinks that Roxas is a creeper, after all, they had only known each other for a few days, really, not nearly enough time to properly develop a crush on someone.

Then why did he feel like this? Why couldn't he just go through one freaking day without thinking about this guy! It wasn't like they were ever going to see each other again, he should just give it up and move on.

Why was it so hard, though?

"Roxas?" The teen snapped his attention back to Olette, rolling onto his back to properly look at her. She was leaning over the side of his bed, giving him a concerned look as she tried to smile reassuringly, "We've decided to use Paine's medicine, alright? So we're gonna go get some right now, you just try and rest up the best you can, k?"

He just sighed and nodded slowly, turning back over and closing his eyes, he listened to them walking out of his room, still arguing in softer whispers. He could feel unconsciousness catching up with him, and with Sora still on his mind, he knew he was going to have dreams.

Whether those dreams would be good or bad, depended really on if they lightened his mood or depressed him when he woke up.

* * *

_They said, everybody knows, everybody knows where we're going  
Yeah, we're going down._


	9. Bright

_**Next chapter is last! I'm ending with an even number! Makes me feel so proud that I have everything so planned out. My computer is working sorta properly now, too! It's just shuts-down randomly every once in awhile and some windows stop responding for short periods of time... Basically, I can do my shit on it for the most part. Thanks to those who sent me luck with it... but it's a rip off computer, the cheap kind you buy at Walmart, this thing need a miracle to keep going for the next couple years.**_

**_Anyways, I used "Long Day" by Matchbox 20 (favorite song ever... at the moment) which made me really happy because I felt some of the lyrics really matched Sora and Roxas at this moment. I know I left it at a huge cliffhanger at the end, but the next chapter won't be too hard for me to type, I'll just have to come up with the time. Hope you guys love it as much as I love your reviews!_**

* * *

_**9 :: Bright**_

* * *

_Reach she said for no one else but you,  
'Cuz you won't turn away  
When someone else is gone  
_

* * *

Sora spent the majority of the plane ride staring out the window or having Kairi talk to him. Note, "Kairi talk to him," it was a one-sided conversation, involving mostly her telling him that if he fucked this up, she was gonna have an axe murderer named Bubba castrate him with a spork.

Lovely picture, isn't that?

Sora really wondered what Kairi's motivation was for putting him through this hell, Naminé and Xion had spent the entire trip talking about some chick Naminé was starting to have the hots for, and Kairi was just going obsessive-compulsive over the practically non-existent relationship Sora and Roxas had.

Any affection there was between them, Sora was sure was one-sided. It just wouldn't make any sense for Roxas to like him, Sora could tell that he may (MAY) feel something for Roxas. But he would think it was mostly because he caused some very important events in his life.

However, he doubted that Roxas would find Sora significant in any way. He probably just thought he was just another rich boy-except he isn't. Now. His family probably didn't even have enough money to leave the island without help, nevermind afford that hotel room his parents were living in.

It's funny, Sora never thought he would ever have to worry about debt, but he was suddenly finding himself in a lot of it. To Axel, to Kairi, to banks, to Ro-

"Are you listening to me at all?"

"Nope."

Kairi huffed and fell back into her seat, glaring at the teen in front of her, but Sora just continued to stare out the window absent-mindedly. Really, she was trying to help him, she was trying to guarantee his happy ending with Roxas, and all he could do was ignore her and zone-out? Geez, no gratitude at all.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled out her laptop, going straight to Google and typing in Roxas's name, then she realized she didn't actually know his last name. Turning her gaze back to the absent-minded brunette in front of her, she smiled, "Hey, Sora? What's Roxas's last name?"

"Casey," He replied, not missing a beat, he sighed a bit, and nearly whispered the next part without realizing it, "Roxas Casey."

Her grin spread a little, eyes becoming a bit more mischievous, but Sora didn't notice at all, gaze still fixated on the passing clouds. She typed in Roxas's name in the search bar, then looked back up at him, "You happen to know where he lives?"

Sora frowned and shook his head, making her grin fade a bit in disappointment, but she didn't waste too much time on it, "How about any jobs?"

"Lulu's Bakery."

She quickly typed the words in and the first result was the staff page of the website for Lulu's Bakery. Roxas was listed promptly as a cashier/baker/bus boy. Sure had plenty of work on his hands, didn't he? How did they expect him to do so much at once. Then again, they only had Lulu herself, and her husband… Wakka (strange name). How could they run a business with so little help? Was that even possible?

Honestly, her father had millions of employees for his corporation, and even Gull Wing Diner had at least ten people working there. Ridiculous to have so few, she really didn't understand people this time. Wouldn't it make more money if there is more service to the customers? Or maybe they can't afford to hire more?

That made sense, they are poor after all. She clicked on the homepage button, eyes squinting as she looked at the picture of the bakery. It was on a crowded street with trash in the gutters, two separate shops on either side, one with spray paint over a window, and a dirty sign hanging above it, aged in color and rain-damage. It looked quite pleasant on the inside, from what you can see through the windows, there were cute little tables, chairs and some booths, but the outside looked like a mess. Was all of Hollow Bastion like this?

Why on earth would Roxas ever want to come back here?

Sora finally noticed she had stopped talking, and turned his attention to her. She sat quietly with her laptop in her lap, a scowl over her face. Whatever she was looking at obviously didn't make her happy, but Sora doubted he would want to know what it is.

She glanced up and grinned when she saw she had his attention, "So the plan is that as soon as we land, Naminé and Xion are going to get a hotel room and meet up with us at Roxas's home."

"His home?" Sora looked surprised, raising an eyebrow at her, "And where is this home? Didn't you just ask me?"

She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, "Well, I figure that, like most businesses, Lulu will also have certain information about her employees on file. So we can just go to her bakery and ask where Roxas lives!"

Sora still looked skeptical, "And what makes you think she'll give it to you?"

"You have to stop being so pessimistic," Kairi pouted, then turned to look back down at her laptop, "Hey, have you seen Hollow Bastion before, Sora?"

The teen thought for a moment, listing the many cities he has visited briefly before, but he found that Hollow Bastion wasn't one of them, "No, I don't think so."

"Hm, it looks horrible. All brick, dirt, rust, trash… Are all cities like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Why would Roxas ever want to go back to such a place? Destiny Island is so much better."

Sora scowled, turning his attention back out the window, "Because, he hates my parents, and he probably hates me, too. Anywhere but with us was probably better than-"

"Oh, would you shut up already? I'm tired of hearing your bitching!" Sora jumped as Kairi pointed at him harshly, scowl looking like it has been welded onto her face, "All you say is that Roxas hates you, but that's just because you don't want to admit that he has a little crush on you! Get over it! A guy likes you! Roxas likes you! And you like him back, that's why you're so hurt over him leaving. Just freaking accept that and stop whining! You're a bitch to drag around like this!"

Sora just stared at her for a moment, something inside his brain rattling because of something she had said. Or it could have been everything. Everything she said could make everything in his brain rattle like an out of control blender. Thoughts jumbling in their attempt to come up with reason, explanation, logic.

The truth was, in the end, though, that there was no logic to this.

It hit him like a ton of bricks, that he had missed it for so long, that he had been unable to see it since it happened. When it came right down to it, things weren't meant to be logical, they were meant to be unexpected, unreasonable, almost chaotic.

Nothing could be expected to be so confined. People, love, they just didn't make sense, they never would.

And neither would why Roxas liked him…

Or why he liked Roxas.

* * *

_It's me, yeah I can't get myself to go away  
It's me, and I can't get myself to go away  
Oh God I shouldn't feel this way  
_

* * *

Lulu sighed as she brought the thermometer, scowling as Olette, Hayner and Seifer stood in the room with her, waiting impatiently for the verdict. If his fever was above 102°F, then he would be going to the hospital, as the cold was beginning to get out of control.

Lulu has been trying to feed him for the past three days, but his aversion to food was just too strong, he couldn't swallow, and he has been sweating and going in and out of unconsciousness all day. It was nearly seven at night, but they would go straight to the emergency room anyways.

Olette had tried Paine's medicine, but, unfortunately, Roxas couldn't swallow that either, and it appeared there was no other way. Unless they did as Hayner suggested and drilled a hole in his neck to shove it down there, but that was going a little too far.

By this point, he just laid there, eyes half-lidded, they could no longer tell if he was awake or asleep, as he wouldn't respond to them at all unless they did something like shove him. Lulu was past the point of concerned, even though she knew better than to express it in a way that would worry others, she would instead take care of him like her son, because he was in their little family.

Roxas wasn't _like_ her son, as far as she was concerned, he _is_ her son.

She winced as she glanced at the thermometer, dropping it back down on the bed before quickly moving to yell at the hallway, "Wakka! Get the car ready!"

Hayner jumped forward, eyes locking onto the tiny screen only for his eyes to widen drastically, "105°!"

Olette rushed out of the room with Lulu, leaving Hayner and Seifer to quickly pull and carry Roxas out of his bed, they moved him onto Seifer's back to carefully carry him to the car.

The kitchen was quiet, the smell of cooked pastries left a haunting scent behind, but the truth was that the bakery had been closed early that day, as Roxas was in no condition to move, Lulu was too worried to really focus on work, and Wakka couldn't figure out how to balance taking care of Vida, Roxas and Lulu while trying to serve customers at the same time. That stuff just didn't work out.

They passed through the empty kitchen to the floor, where Wakka had already finished cleaning and putting the chairs up, but now was outside, waiting in the driver's seat of the car. Olette sat in the passenger's seat, speaking rapidly as she was probably doing just out of nervousness, and Lulu was holding the back seat door open, Vida standing beside her quite confused.

She ushered them in quickly, and they managed to somewhat prop the dazed teen up against Hayner, so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Spinning back around, Seifer looked at Lulu in confusion as she pulled Vida away from the car, whispering something about Roxas being alright to him, "Wait, Lu! How're you gonna get there?"

She looked up and waved him off, "I'll call a taxi, I have to get someone to watch Vida and lock up the shop. Go ahead, I'll meet you in the waiting room!"

Wakka was driving before Seifer had a proper chance to shut the door, making the guy swear profusely, "Hey! Watch what you're doing!"

"Hey, I'm driving, you watch Roxas! Make sure he's cool, his temp can't get no higher, or bad things are gonna happen, you hear? He's temp better not get no higher!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, just watch the damn road!"

"Would you all just shut up! You're not gonna make anything better for Roxas!" Olette butted in, glancing over at Hayner's shoulder to see the blonde, her and Hayner just exchanged concerned glances, but then his eyes turned away, back out the window as if to distract himself.

Olette spun around, watching the route Wakka was taking and then turning to him, "Why are you taking Blitz Ave.? Don't take Blitz, left! Go on Twilight Drive! Twilight! Where the hell are you going?"

"Hey! I've been driving for twenty years! You just got your permit last week, so I don't wanna hear it! You got that!"

In a distorted kind of haze, Roxas could feel the car's movement jostle him around, but he couldn't care less, honestly. His mind was a mush, his muscles were rubber, and he was pretty sure his skin had turned into those Clearasil Pads, the ones you used to clean your face with. The yelling sounded filtered through his ears, and he knew his eyes were open, but the colors just blurred around in a mess.

He felt so warm. Physically, obviously, he had heard Hayner yell "105°!" not too long ago, so he was guessing that was either the temperature outside or his temperature on the inside.

Even with these deduced conclusions, though, he felt like that wasn't quite right, that he was missing something. That he got something wrong. He couldn't tell if that was actually what happened, or if it was just his cold messing with his head, but it didn't put him in the right position.

Something was screaming at him to go back home, to get back in bed and just wait. But that didn't make any sense at all, that was practically suicidal right there. Was all his depressive thoughts over Sora really making him suicidal now?

He groaned, loudly, making everyone flinch, as they thought he was in pain, but it wasn't from the cold. He was in pain because he just thought of freaking Sora again. Why couldn't he just go away? Why couldn't he just forget about him already? It wasn't suppose to hurt, Roxas wasn't suppose to hurt over a boy, he never had before.

If he showed interest in a guy, he would make the move, he would incite all the moves, but Sora was like a chess board with flipped rules. Things just didn't work like this, he was never like this before he got to Destiny Island.

Or was it Sora that changed him?

Whatever it was, he just wanted it to stop, or at least let him forget.

Forget Destiny Island, Kairi, Naminé, Xion, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Reno, Riku, Rufus Shinra, Axel, everything, everybody, right down to that annoying blonde girl from the restaurant.

Even Sora. He just wanted to forget Sora.

* * *

_Terrified of no one else but me  
I'm here all the time  
I won't go away  
_

* * *

Finally off the plane, Sora stretched his legs as they sat in the car, driven by one of the butlers, he assumed. A temporary chauffer until they hired one for their stay here, is what Sora assumed, as they could afford the expense.

Kairi jabbered on and on about something, but Sora found his hearing beginning to grow accustom to drowning her out, and he just stared out the window at the spots of the street the street lights lit up, areas that even the enormous amount of lights from the buildings couldn't brighten. Everything looked threatening, looked dirty, looked unwelcoming.

Sora couldn't remember those other cities he had been to appearing such a way.

As a constricting note twisted in his stomach, he was reminded that it may not be the actual place, but more how it appears to him under these circumstances. It was natural to be nervous about visiting someone you had a crush on, someone who you would be confessing a crush to.

It was strange, admitting that he liked a boy. But at the same time it wasn't. It wasn't that he liked boys, but that he liked Roxas, and Roxas happened to be male. If Roxas was female, he was sure he would think himself straight. If Roxas was a transsexual, he would assume he was either bi or pansexual. But in the end, it really didn't matter which way he swung.

As he was attracted to Roxas, end of story. Boy, girl, transgender prostitute on the corner of a Laundromat.

… Well, maybe some changes would be made if he was one of those, as they had just passed one and it sent chills down Sora's spine.

The car suddenly stopped, making him jump suddenly. He snapped his head to look out the window on Kairi's side and saw a quant little shop… With metal bars blocking the windows on the outside… Were they closed?

Well, probably, it is nearly 7:30 at night, this was ridiculously late for a bakery to still be open. Most people tended to buy cheery things like pastries when there was a cheery atmosphere… like when there was sun and no threat of muggers around a corner.

Kairi, apparently, had no ability to read the atmosphere, or just ignored the atmosphere, as she jumped right out and ran up to the door, knocking at it repeatedly. Slowly, Sora also climbed out, cautiously looking up and down the street, then up at the store…

So this was the city Roxas was raised in… And this was the store he worked at…

How depressing.

Kairi turned obviously seeming to believe they were out of luck, but then she jumped as the door suddenly swung open and a woman quickly ran out, yelling back to someone a quick thanks. She turned and looked down at Kairi, a worried frown creasing her face, "Sorry, miss, we're closed."

She was about to run off before Kairi called out to her quickly, "Ah, wait! We just need to ask a quick question! About Roxas!"

The woman froze, just before she would've stepped onto the street and hailed a taxi, she turned back and looked at Kairi, then her gaze traveled over to Sora. Something seemed to click in her eyes, a connection made, "You're that boy that Wakka told me about, the one Roxas drew."

"Excuse me?" A light blush traveled up to his face as he thought of Roxas drawing him, wondering what the picture had looked like.

"Sora?"

"Yes!"

The woman turned around and marched up to them, one glance at the car, "Is that your car? Roxas isn't here, you have a GPS, right?"

She made hand gestures, obviously ushering them back into the car, and they all jumped in. She leaned closer to the driver, taking the GPS from him and quickly pressing in the address, then she turned back around to look at them, "I'm Lulu, Roxas has been living with me and my family for awhile now."

Sora's eyes widened, "Wait, so, he lives there?" He gestured vaguely in the direction of the bakery they had just left, and Lulu just nodded, "But, where are we going then?"

She sighed, "First, how about you two tell me your names and how you know Roxas, he hasn't told us much about his trip, much less about the people he met."

Kairi butted in quickly, "I'm Kairi Howards, my sisters and I are friends with Roxas. And Sora Taylors, his family housed Roxas."

"Where are we going?" Sora could feel it, that worry tighten in his stomach. Why wasn't she telling them where they were going? She was avoiding saying something about Roxas, making Sora begin to sweat over the thought that something might've happened to him.

She frowned at him, and leaned back in her seat, finally looking around at the car, a look in her eyes read that she was slightly impressed, but then her eyes landed on the brunette teen once again, and she had to look away from his eyes, "Roxas… He got sick a couple days ago. His temperature is high, so I told my husband and his friends to take him to the hospital about a half hour ago."

Sora's head spun, and the pit in his stomach that had been nervous about confessing to Roxas changed to being nervous about what would happen to Roxas.

* * *

_And no Lord your hand won't stop it  
Just keep you trembling  
It's been a long day, always ain't that right_

* * *

Emergency rooms were filled with mostly three types of people, from what Sora could see. Bloody people, insanely sick people, and homeless people. He thanked God he was moved right along to the waiting room.

_Roxas is gonna be alright._

Inside the waiting room were four people that Lulu led them up to. The tanned man he now recognized from the picture in Roxas's album. The other three said they were his friends, but he missed their names.

_Roxas is gonna be alright._

He sat between one of those friends, and some woman who was just staring at the wall across from her with a dazed expression. Sora knew how she felt. With the TV making some background noise that was drowned out by the incredible silence in the room.

_Roxas was gonna be fine._

His knee was jumping, his finger tapping against it, and he could feel his other hand sweating against the material of his jeans. The room was too hot, the air was too cold, his eyes were open and staring around, but it was like a passing scene in a movie. Seen, not watched, not taken in, not remembered as anything except a moment in time that could easily be forgotten.

_Roxas is gonna be fine, just fine._

Except this would be remembered, in the background on the melodramatic hospital soap-opera, there sat him, nervously anticipating the chance to rush to Roxas's side, to see the haunting blonde, to be sure that everything was gonna be alright.

_Nothing bad would happen to Roxas._

Because that's how soap-operas worked, they were dramatic, they were corny, and they played during the daytime when you were skipping school and the good shows wouldn't appear for another couple hours.

_It's Roxas, nothing bad would happen._

How long was he gonna wait here?

"Roxas Casey?" He was probably the first to jump up, and the others were quick to follow. The doctor spoke, words coming from his mouth but nothing really being heard. Sora was just waiting for the sentence, the results, the final verdict one Roxas.

"A high enough temperature, sustained over a period of time can lead to brain-damage…"

Sora suddenly remembered Roxas's photo album.

"The malnutrition…"

He could see the smile Roxas had displayed in that picture of him with his friends.

"The dehydration…"

That smile had been so bright.

* * *

_Reach down your hand in your pocket  
Pull out some hope for me _


	10. Love

_**DONE! Last chapter peoples! Anyone notice how cheesy/corny I am? Like, really? I always think I come up with the most cliche and corny endings and moments, but no one ever tells me I'm a sap or anything. Is it because you guys secretly love the sappiness? Whatever, that's just how I am, and, personally, I kind of like it, so I'm not gonna bother trying to give myself a headache over something like this.**_

**_Anyways, I wrote some smuttiness towards the end, because someone asked for it. And there are no song lyrics for this chapter. Because, try as I might, I just couldn't think of a freaking song that would properly express how I feel Sora and Roxas feel at the moment. But I hope you guys love it, I hope you loved the entire story! I love you guys! (Getting all teary!) And I might be taking a small break for awhile, just until I decide to write a new story. This will be the first time in a LONG time that I don't have anything to write on this site so..._**

**_I'll be back._**

* * *

_**10 :: Love**_

* * *

Sora fell against the wall, the words hitting him like a speeding bullet train. Shaking his entire world and setting it back down, he felt those words hammer some nails into that world of his, keeping it stable once again.

_He will make a fine recovery with time._

* * *

Sora slipped, making him realize that wearing only socks on a polished wood floor is quite slippery, and he found that the ending result of his butt and lower back landing slamming into the last step of the stair case was painful enough to really nail that fact into his memory.

Groaning to himself, he heard half hysterical laughter, and turned his head to see the familiar blonde on the couch in the living room, grin spread across his face as he laughed at the teen at the staircase, "Grace, haha, it isn't something you're good at, is it, Sor?"

Sora rolled his eyes at him and jumped up, ignoring the pain in his backside that came from the fall, he slid across the floor to land on the couch beside him, with enough grace to almost make that fall look like it couldn't happen. But he knew, Sora was an easy person to read.

"Whatever, Rox, whatever, you're the one who crashed into that door yesterday, so I don't want to hear it from you!"

Roxas's grin just spread, about to retort with a snappy comeback, but he suddenly felt a violent cough ripping through his throat, making him double over. Sora jumped and frowned, gently rubbing his back as he waited for him to recover.

They wouldn't be able to forget how sick he'd gotten.

Roxas breathed deeply and leaned back onto the couch, messaging his sore throat as he squinted his eyes shut, "Ow, that one hurt."

Sora rolled his eyes, "They all do, you still taking your meds?"

"Yeah, yeah, the, uh… What were they called?"

"Guess."

"Uh… Ginec-"

"Not even close."

Roxas pouted, narrowing his eyes at the brunette, "Why you always so mean to me? Ass."

Sora threw a hand over his mouth, muffling the chuckling he was attempting to hide, but Roxas still spun around to glare at him, "What?"

Sora burst out in his laughter, suddenly throwing himself on the blonde, making him fall back on the couch, letting the teen lay mostly on him, "We both know who the real ass is."

"What are you-" Roxas's eyes widened, then a blush ran across his face, "I am not! You're gonna be it!"

Sora grinned wider, "Nuh-uh! I can totally dominate you!"

"You couldn't dominate a-"

"Do NOT finish that sentence!" The couple jumped and snapped their attention to the doorway to the kitchen, seeing Kairi smirking at them as Xion just rolled her eyes, "If you two are gonna make out here, then do it in a room! We don't wanna see all that stuff!"

Naminé squeezed past them, looking quickly at the scene before pulling out her sketchbook, "Speak for yourself, you two just continue doing what you were doing, k? Pretend I'm not here!"

They jumped apart like they were burned, making Naminé glare at them, "What? I thought you two looked cute!"

Sora grinned at her, "Yeah, uh-huh, totally innocent intentions, right?"

She gave him a dirty look, but just stomped from the room, heading upstairs to Larxene's room, most likely. Larxene herself stepped out of the kitchen next looking at all of them as she sipped her cup of coffee, "Where'd Nam go?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, "You two just can't be separated for a minute, can you?"

"New couple, by law we're attached at the hip!" She yelled, marching out of the room, looking around before heading up the stairs also, "Naaaaaamiiiiiii!"

Roxas groaned at her yell, covering his ears and burying his face into Sora's shoulder, and, as predicted by the blonde, the chain reaction began, as Axel could be heard from somewhere in the house, "Who the HELL is yelling THIS FUCKING EARLY IN THE MORNING?"

"HEY! I'm trying to SLEEP!" Demyx yell could be heard in another location, probably his own room.

Marluxia screamed from the bathroom shower, somehow being heard with his horribly loud voice, "YOU'RE FUCKING ZEXION IN YOUR SLEEP NOW, TOO?"

Larxene's and Axel's impish laughter could be heard already, as Sora decided to also contribute to the yelling, "Jeez, Dem! I'm sure his ass hurts enough now! Give him a brake from the spanking at least!"

"WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP?" Demyx screamed from his bedroom, even making Roxas start to laugh.

Kairi just sighed at the residents of the house, finding it amazing they haven't all gone insane living together just yet, and then walked up to the TV, turning the volume up to hopefully catch some of the news, "Coming up on Destiny Island News…"

She grumbled to herself as Sora giggled rather girlishly, making Roxas push him, but Xion jumped onto the floor in front of the TV, pulling the Playstation and controllers out. She raised her eyebrow at Sora and threw him a controller, making Kairi throw her hands up at them, "This early in the morning? Really? You're like children!"

"WHOSE HAVING BABIES?" Axel screamed from… somewhere, it was coming from the direction of the garage, strangely enough.

"DEMYX AND ZEXION!" Marluxia cackled from the shower, _still_, "OR MAYBE SORA AND ROXAS FINALLY LOST THEIR VIRGINITY!"

"WE ARE MAN! WE CAN NOT REPRODUCE!" Demyx screamed.

"SAYS YOU!" Sora retorted, making Roxas groan from the scream being only an inch from his ear, as he rested comfortably against the brunette's arm and shoulder. The arm suddenly moved, being thrown around his chest, making Roxas smile, until he saw Sora getting a more comfortable grip on the controller… Oh well, he'd have him whipped eventually.

Larxene threw her door open, "HEY! NONE OF YOU SHOULD REPRODUCE, SO SHUT UP!"

"WAIT, ZEXY!" Demyx's door was slammed open, and stomping was heard as they suddenly saw Zexion glaring violently at the world around him, heading straight for the kitchen, sharp whispers of "Coffee" was the only thing heard from him.

Demyx didn't take long to be seen running after him, grinning brightly at those in the living room. Then, to Kairi's immense joy, Marluxia finally left the bathroom, bright pink bathroom hugging his body a little too tightly as he smiled contently and walked up the stairs to his own room. Kairi quickly ran into the bathroom after him, making Axel raise an eyebrow at her as he walked into the living room from the garage.

He grinned evilly and jumped onto the couch beside Roxas, throwing his arms around the small blonde, "ROXAS! WHY? Why did you choose my little brother over me! I'm so damn smexy! Much more smexy than him!"

Sora's jaw dropped, along with the game controller, "Hey! I am so much smexier than you!"

Roxas glared at him, as his boyfriend just stared at them for a moment, Roxas still in Axel's arms, the teen was quite annoyed, "… AND?"

"Oh, and Roxas's ass is totally mine, take your Grampa hands off him."

"They're not Grampa hands!"

"My ASS is not YOURS!"

"Jeez, you guys are so easily offended," He gasped and grabbed the remote again, "I mean, really, Axe you grab Roxie every day, ever since Roxie's parents bought this house for us!"

Axel just pouted, staring at his hands and walked off, and Roxas continued to glare at his boyfriend, who was completely absorbed in his game against Xion… Until Roxas walked past him and broke his gaze at the screen, "Huh? Roxie, where you going?"

Roxas continued, not looking behind himself as he climbed the stairs, leaving Sora to raise and eyebrow and Xion to giggle at him, "Oooh, someone's in for a spanking!"

Marluxia yelled from his room, "Is it Zexion? Demyx! We told you to give his ass a break!"

"I AM!" A bang and scream were heard from the kitchen immediately afterwards, followed quickly by a, "I'm sorry, Zexy!"

Sora ignored them and left the game, running up the stairs and towards his and Roxas's room, the moment he stepped inside, he found Roxas scowling at him. Slowly the teen closed the door behind him, wondering what the hell Roxas could be so upset about, as it had obviously been a joke, but then Roxas was on him, pushing him flush against the door.

Their mouths were connected like they had been welded together, and it didn't look like there was any thoughts of separation for them. As Roxas's hands traveled up into Sora's hair, tangling his fingers in the strands, Sora quickly wrapped his around the other's lower back, messaging random designs through his shirt and into his skin.

A lick at Sora's bottom lip, and the first thought that popped into his mind was that he was most definitely not in any trouble at all; he didn't hesitate to let that tongue slip into his mouth. Moaning softly, he slowly let one of his hands trail up under Roxas's shirt, gently gliding his fingers against the soft skin of his side.

Roxas shivered, gasping in his mouth, but didn't stop for a moment, as Sora let his hand travel back down in the same way, trailing off farther down to his butt. Letting the other hand also fall down to the same area, he pulled Roxas even closer to him, prying his legs apart with his knee to settle them in a much more… comfortable position.

Roxas groaned quietly, finally braking the kiss and letting them both gasp for breath, he bucked forward and grinded against Sora's hips, in turn making the other moan with him. In some sort of retaliation, Sora locked himself onto the blonde's pale neck, licking and gently nibbling at the soft skin there, he started to move his knee.

Groaning at the treatment, Roxas gulped heavily, repeating the grinding against Sora, feeling his erection pressing against the others through their clothing, he gasped as he suddenly felt Sora bite down on a spot just below his jaw. He suddenly really wished he had gotten their pants off before they decided to do this.

Like ready his mind, Sora's hands went straight to Roxas's belt, undoing it quickly, surprisingly since his fingers shook, but he let it fall to the floor as he undid those pants and began pushing them down. He didn't care if they were off or not, he just wanted to get to the good part.

Roxas grinded down one more time before letting himself be pushed off just slightly, his jeans pooling at his ankles on the floor, he stumbled messily out of them as he was pushed back. He let Sora guide him, instead directing his attention to the teen's neck, tanned, smooth, soft, and unmarked. He wanted to make it his.

He nibbled on it, a harsher nip making Sora hold his breath for a heartbeat longer ever once in a while, Roxas gasped as he was suddenly sent sprawling back onto his bed. His jeans were ripped off him, making him look up as Sora nearly tore his shirt and jeans from himself, he followed the idea and also took his shirt off, leaving the two in only their boxers as Sora climbed over him.

Roxas smirked at him, making the brunette blush lightly, suddenly quite aware of his own heavy breathing, but that didn't matter. He just wanted to mess Roxas up, in a very good way. He smashed their lips together, a wet and sloppy kiss being the result, and he pushed the teen against the mattress, moving one of his legs out so he could sit between them, he grinded up into the blonde's butt.

Roxas could feel Sora's erection press against his butt, and his own erection rubbing against Sora's stomach through the cloth of their boxers. He groaned again, biting his lip and breaking the kiss to keep himself from making a louder noise. Things were getting really hot, and he didn't know how far this was gonna go.

His original plan had been to just make-out with him, remind Sora who was the pants in their relationship, but that was apparently not what was transpiring. He whimpered ever so softly as another grind against his bottom sent chills of pleasure through him, and he sucked in another deep breath, knowing this was going a lot farther than they had thought.

Were they really going to have sex?

Sora continued his motions, grinding himself into Roxas's butt, feeling Roxas buck forward into his stomach in turn, he could feel the tension building in them. He wasn't sure how far Roxas wanted to go, how far either of them wanted to go. Roxas was still sick after all, and the doctor said no strenuous exercise for him… Did sex count as strenuous exercise?

Probably…

But if Roxas really wanted it, would that stop him? No way in Hell.

"R-Rox, you-do you really?"

"Yes!" Roxas snapped it quickly, not giving Sora chance to elaborate any more, "Yes, just-more."

Their words sounded strangled, but they wouldn't be speaking much anyways, so Sora's hands went straight down to the other teen's underwear, nearly tearing them off with the speed he pulled them down. Roxas groaned as he felt himself exposed to the cooler air, which was strange, as the air felt like it was burning his lungs, not freezing cold like it was to… uh, his part.

Looking down at him, Sora grinned, making Roxas gulp and avert his gaze, "H-Hey, what's with that look? Creeper, stop staring and do something!"

Sora's grin just turned more mischievous as he leaned down, taking a attentive lick at Roxas, making the other flinch and stifle a noise, the blonde couldn't stop his groan when he was suddenly engulfed with that warmth, though.

Sora slowly moved up and down, making the teen below him squirm, he was sure that his hands were going to leave bruises on his hips, ones that would mean Roxas would be to embarrassed to wear his bathing suit later, but that didn't matter.

Because he would rip whatever shirt he was wearing off in front of everybody, so they would all know who Roxas belonged to.

Roxas shuddered, feeling Sora's tongue tease the slit, he didn't notice Sora's fingers until they were poking into his mouth. Living in a house with so many other gay guys and perverts, he knew what Sora was planning, so he quickly took them in his mouth, licking and coating them with as much saliva as he could.

Sora let his fingers run down his chest lightly, just barely breezing over his nipples, and circling his belly button only once before coming to his legs. Sora spread them apart further, letting his fingers probe Roxas's hole teasingly.

Roxas sucked in his breath, nervous, knowing pain was ahead, but that the pleasure would make it all worth it. As the first finger entered, the uncomfortable feeling didn't bother him too much, after all, he had been expecting worse. But the second finger…

"Fuck…" Roxas groaned, trying to shift his hips around, wishing the sting would just go away already, but with the constant source of sucking from Sora's mouth, he had to gasp as Sora dragged his teeth down his length lightly.

Slowly, the scissoring of Sora's fingers he was adjusted to, and then the third was added, and he felt himself loosen up to that one as well. Panting, his vision and mind blurred, with Sora still moving up and down his length, and those fingers sending tingling pleasure up his spine, he moaned Sora's name quietly.

Sora pulled his fingers out, and let Roxas's length fall from his mouth, leaving the blonde panting with a groan, he spit onto his hand, coating his own length with saliva and hoping that it would be enough for this.

Pulling Roxas closer to him, he lined himself up with his entrance, and looked down at those soft baby blues, glazed over with the sort of look that made chills run up Sora's spine. He was pretty sure if he wasn't hard already, that look could make him in seconds.

Roxas nodded slowly, and Sora gently began to push in, watching his lover closely as he entered. The first part was fine, good even, it felt so good, but past the part where Sora's fingers stretched…

That hurt like a mother fucking bitch.

He winced, making Sora slow down, but not completely stop. He couldn't, maybe if Roxas said so, but without the direct words, he just couldn't. It was like he was being pulled in, by that heat, that tightness. He groaned, loudly as he finally became fully sheathed.

He waited, looming over the blonde's body as they both panted rapidly, he opened his eyes to look down at Roxas's flushed face, waiting for any kind of sign that he was ready for movement. Roxas, in turn, after what felt like forever, finally moved his hips down, groaning as he felt Sora move inside him.

Sora placed his hands back on his hips, pulling out slowly before snapping back in, making Roxas moan loudly, he repeated this again, and again. Sweat dripped from their bodies, making their skin slide against each other easier, and Roxas clutched at Sora's back, digging his nails into just under the guy's shoulder blades.

The tension was coiling in their stomachs tightly, their noises becoming more unrestrained, Sora's thrusts were beginning to turn out of their rhythm, and Roxas wrapped his legs around his waist, attempting to bring him even closer, even deeper.

Sora could feel himself coming closer to the edge, thrusting harder and deeper inside the blonde beneath him, and suddenly he felt Roxas's walls clutch all around him. Roxas nearly screamed, and Sora smashed their mouths together once again, feeling himself also release into his lover.

He collapsed, barely moving himself, to the side of Roxas, still half way on top of the guy. They panted, basking in the post-orgasm feeling, the silence around them was ringing in their ears until Roxas cracked his eyes open slightly, letting out a small, raspy whisper, "I love you."

Sora's eyes widened in surprise, his breath catching momentarily until the warmest smile Roxas had seen from him spread across his features, "I love you, too."

Then…

"SOMEONE ISN'T A VIRGIN ANYMORE!"

"WHO WAS ON TOP!"

"SORA! SORA FUCKED ROXAS GOOD!"

"NO WAY! ROXAS REALLY TOOK IT UP THE ASS?"

Roxas glared at the ceiling above them, "I'm gonna kill something."

Sora just grinned, kissing his cheek and snuggling up to him, "You're ass is gonna hurt like a bitch, I'll kill them for you later. Cuddle first."

Roxas blushed a bit, mostly out of embarrassment that he now realized everyone in the house probably had heard them, and let his eyes travel around their room, finally resting on the collage of pictures Sora had made on their wall for him, back when they first moved in.

All of the pictures were of them together, in the hospital, at Lulu's Bakery, in Roxas's room at Lulu's. But the most important part of it, the part that always made him smile the most was how the pictures spelt a word.

_Love_.

Sora had said pictures were worth a thousand words, but those pictures only meant one.


End file.
